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Traffic and channels

Typosquatting

Also called typo squatting, URL hijacking, typo domains.

Short answer

Typosquatting is registering domains that resemble a well-known brand with a small spelling mistake – the classic is goggle.com instead of google.com. In affiliate marketing the technique is used to capture mistyped brand traffic and send it through an affiliate link, so the affiliate earns commission on customers the store already had.

Definition of Typosquatting.

A typosquatter registers domains that users hit by mistake: swapped letters, a missing hyphen, the wrong extension – .com instead of a country domain such as .dk – or a doubled character. The domain then redirects the visitor to the real site. Outside the affiliate world, the method is used for phishing and ad impressions; the purpose is always to profit from traffic intended for someone else.

In affiliate marketing, the typosquatter inserts their own affiliate link into the redirect. The customer mistypes the store name, spends a fraction of a second on the typo domain and lands in the store – now with active affiliate tracking. If an order is completed, commission is triggered for a sale the store would have got in any case. There is no marketing behind it, only harvesting of demand the brand itself has created.

The technique is related to brand bidding and ad hijacking: all 3 harvest traffic from the store's own brand instead of creating new traffic. The difference is the channel – brand bidding happens in search ads, ad hijacking in hijacked ads, typosquatting in the address bar itself.

How the store spots it

The pattern shows in the data: a conversion rate far above the program average, a very short time from click to purchase and orders from customers who never saw any real content from the affiliate. Typo traffic behaves like direct traffic, because the customer had already decided before the click was recorded.

The defence is cheap: register the most obvious misspellings of your own domain yourself, and look up which domains the affiliate clicks actually come from. A domain that looks like the store's name with a typo is rarely a coincidence.

How it goes wrong

  • 01

    Commission without value

    Typosquatting creates no new customers – it taxes traffic the store created itself. A program that pays commission for typo traffic is paying for its own customers.

  • 02

    Looks like loyal traffic

    The conversion rate on typo traffic is often above the program average, because the customer was already on their way to buy. Unusually high figures from a single affiliate are a signal to check, not to celebrate.

  • 03

    A legal problem too

    Registering domains that resemble a protected trademark can trigger claims for transfer and damages – in Denmark under the Trademarks Act and the Domain Names Act. The program terms are rarely the only place the technique is forbidden.

At Affilyflow

Typosquatting in practice

Affilyflow has no automation that hunts typo domains – detection lies in the data and the approval flow. Every tracking event is logged, including clicks that never become sales, so a suspicious pattern can be inspected. The store has the program's approval period (30–90 days) to reject a conversion, a rejection requires a reason the affiliate can read, and a blocked affiliate cannot earn, whichever way the sale comes in.

Frequently asked questions

Is typosquatting illegal in Denmark?

Often, yes. Registering a domain that resembles a protected trademark can breach the Danish Trademarks Act, and the Domain Names Act requires good domain name practice. The Danish Complaints Board for Domain Names can transfer a .dk domain to the rights holder. In affiliate marketing, the technique is also a breach of the program terms.

How do typosquatters make money from affiliate links?

They register misspelled variants of a store's domain and redirect the traffic through their own affiliate link. The customer ends up in the right store and shops as planned – but with the typosquatter's tracking active, so commission is paid for a sale that would have happened anyway.

How does a store protect itself against typosquatting?

Register the most obvious misspellings of your own domain, keep an eye on which domains the affiliate clicks come from, and react to affiliates with an abnormally high conversion rate combined with a very short time from click to purchase. Reject conversions from typo traffic and block repeat offenders.

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