I've noticed this for a long time now.
Comanies should have one, maybe two (and in extraordinary cases three) domain names on the web. This applies in name only, and not necessarily the TLD. (ISPs should be able to get their monikers in both .com and .net)
I'm not even talking about domain squatting, which is a disgusting practice in itself. What I'm talking about is the habit of large companies to register a domain for the name of their company (which makes sense), plus a crazy amount of other domains that "kinda-sorta-relate-to-the-company" but are actually "only-related-to-a-small-portion-of-the-company".
Examples? Sure! The first party guilty of this trend that I have seen is good 'ol Miller Brewing Company (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). They ran a promotion awhile back called "Get the Goods." Whether that promotion is still in effect, I don't know. However, to promote the promotion (department of redundancy department!) they registered the following domain:
http://www.millergetthegoods.com
Can someone please explain to me the purpose of registering something so idiotic, so inane, and so unnecessary, instead of creating something a bit more elegant, like oh, say: "http://www.miller.com/goods/" or perhaps "http://goods.miller.com"? The latter of the two is actually *easier* to remember!
Isolated incident! No other companies do that!
Ha! Let's go check out another large corporation that has done the same thing. Ford Motor Company! Sure, it would make sense to register "ford.com", and perhaps even "fordmotorcompany.com", but when the Ford Focus was introduced, they did their wonderful corporate dance and started promoting:
http://www.focusonford.com
Hello? Marketing idiots? How about "http://www.ford.com/focus/"! It's easier! But no! These companies are abusing the domain system because they think the internet is theirs to do with as they please. This "we're too good for a subdirectory" bullshit mentality needs to stop.
The latest, (oh the latest) is absolutely, incredibly insane. There is a small company (for which I have great respect for their products) named Canon. Perhaps you've heard of them. Yes? Of course you have. So if you want to know about Canon products you'd head over to "www.canon.com", right? Right! It makes sense!
Canon introduces a new model printer, the Canon S600. It's not a spectacular printer, nor is it anything revolutionary. It's a really nice printer, but not worthy of any royal fanfare. So what does Canon do?
http://www.canons600.com
"Hey! Let's register a domain for every model of every product that we carry! And while we're at it, let's toss in the discontinued ones too!" Jesus Tap-Dancing Christ! "www.canon.com/s600/" is just as easy to remember, and it doesn't require any extra domain space! I would absolutely LOVE to smack the idiots that carry this trend.
I have a feeling this mentality is only going to get worse upon the mainstream implementation of IPV6. (All the IPs you could ever want! Never run out!)
God help us all.
More examples?
- http://www.nintendogamecube.com/
- http://www.pentium4.com/
- http://www.photosmart.com/
- http://www.mkdeadlyalliance.com/
- http://www.pcsvision.com/
- http://www.swbfreedomphone.com/
- http://www.pepsiblue.com/