Google Redirecting Type-In Traffic on Safari

A few months ago, I sold a domain name via Squadhelp. Based on how the sale was made, I was pretty sure the domain name was not acquired by an existing brand. When I went to check to see if the domain name was being used using Safari, I was forwarded to another website. I was surprised to see that it forwarded me to an existing website.

A Whois search did not reveal any additional information, so I explored further. I visited the domain name on a Chrome browser, and I was taken to a default GoDaddy landing page. This perplexed me. A bit of additional researched showed me what happened.

The other day, Adam Strong shared a similar story about being redirected on Safari:

What I learned is Google is redirecting users on Safari who have the (default) option to include search suggestions. If this toggle is turned off by the user, they will visit whatever domain name they type-in rather than a Google suggestion.

There are a couple of implications of this for domain investors. For one thing, I don’t think Safari users who are opted-in will be able to visit a PPC landing page. This would reduce parking revenue since redirected visitors can’t click PPC links. In addition, Google may redirect people away from domain names that are for sale but not developed. Someone who visits a name I own that is “for sale” may get redirected elsewhere and the visitor will assume the domain name he checked is already developed.

As Bill Hartzer pointed out, this is not a new development.

This is a very intentional redirect to better the user experience. Because it involves Google and Apple, I am quite certain this feature won’t be changed. It is something domain investors should know about.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

2 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks Elliot for your post 👍

    I don’t know if this is a google thing but the redirection goes to Siri’s suggestion: when you start typing in the address bar, Siri gives you suggestions. If you still have a suggestion once you have typed the entire domain name (extension included) you will be redirected if there is still a Siri suggestion.
    This is a very weird issue as it is also related to the geographic location you are: I live in France. If I type sav.com in the safari address bar, I am redirected to le-sav.com. But if I lived outside France I won’t meet the issue (I would probably have a different one).

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