10 Brands Claimed By Twitter Cybersquatters

September 21, 2009 | Willis Wee

cyber-squatting Have you ever tried searching for your favorite brands on Twitter and all you got was a detestable default avatar (o_O)?

You’ve cybersquatters to blame for that. They are basically people who take slums online and virtually squat on an account that is not legally theirs. Most of them are just waiting for the rightful owner to buy it back.

The idea is creative but certainly illegal and not workable. Here’s a list of the world’s best brand usernames owned by cybersquatters.

1.

Apple

According to the last report, Apple is currently worth $15 Billion. The one and only tweet from this account was “I love apples.” If the real Apple is interested to buy this account, they can email this squatter at apple.twitter@gmail.com. Fat hope I guess.

2.

dell

This squatter made an effort to decorate its Twitter profile to trick users into believing that it is the real Dell. But with @DellOutlet having so much success on Twitter, it is obvious that his attempt won’t work.

3.

volkswagen

This one is interesting. Although it is in a language that I don’t understand, the user’s last tweet is an open invitation for people to purchase the username. He should at least spell “Twitter” right to show some sincerity.

4.

Nike

One of the most expensive brand in the world claimed on Twitter.

5.

forbes

With CNN and New York Times’ success on Twitter, Forbes should be feeling the heat. But we doubt it is this cybersquatter that’s stopping it from going big on Twitter.

6.

benjerry

With little concern about usernames, this ice cream maker has set up its official Twitter profile as @cherrygarcia.

7.

adobe

Its one and only tweet tells us who is behind this fake Adobe account. @GSI is a marketing company that claims to help Fortune 500 companies with their marketing plan and execution. I’m definitely doubting its credibility.

8.

walmart

This fake Walmart account has managed to gather over 1,000 followers. It is by far the most impressive cybersquatter account I’ve encountered.

9.

ikea

Ikea has been whacky in their commercial advertising. But this furniture giant hasn’t quite started using Facebook or Twitter as a communication tool with its consumers.

10.

Pringles

Potato chip giant Pringles has been a big hit on Facebook. With P&G placing great emphasis on social media for Pringles, this Twitter profile might be of some value.

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Tags: Brand, Cybersquatters, Twitter

DeskAway

how come the companies haven't claimed it on the twitter help page.

DeskAway

how come the companies haven't claimed it on the twitter help page.

McLaughlin

Twitter has some pretty easy rules for getting these accounts back to the company that probably should be using them. If the account is not active, you contact Twitter and say the acct is inactive and you want it. I did this for a friend because an x took their name, made one post and left the acct inactive. I followed the instructions in the Twitter FAQ and the acct was turned over in less than a week.

Willis Wee

thanks for the great comment. Contacting Twitter is definitely an option but i definitely missed the FAQ. I'll check it out!

strategic_growth_advisors

The main issue here is these cybersquatters only prevail when the real owners of the product or brand they are supposedly "owning" agree to buy the name of the account. If not, well, these people need to hatch up another hair-brained strategy to earn some bucks.

Willis Wee

Agree :)

sarah_chong

agreed! besides, claiming brand usernames that are not rightfully yours is illegal. the brand can actually get Twitter to pull your account down.

ketinunkantim

Yeah, indeed, there are people all around trying their best to take some profit out of everything.
They might, for sure.
When I first tryied Twitting, I started to @ all words I typped and found out very interesting empty good words, also brands, but still available.
That means not everybody yet bet on the success of Twitter.
It would be a good business trying to save all possibilities.
It would be, indeed, a hard work... and as any other, why not been paid for?

AnneHaynes

It's exactly like domain names and people still buy them.

Willis Wee

yes indeed Anne! But apparent people don't buy them on Twitter. Too bad for those cybersquatters.

AnneHaynes

I think the verdict is still out. It's too early to rule out not paying for your brand name on twitter.

Willis Wee

hmm perhaps. We shall see :D

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