Fight for business leads rival taxi companies into 'cybersquatting' row Tension has grown between four taxi firms in Rushmoor after one bought web addresses featuring their rivals' names A taxi company has been accused of ‘devious tactics’ after website addresses featuring the names of three rival companies were purchased to promote its own services.
Rushmoor Taxis, based in Aldershot, purchased the domain names vgttaxisaldershot.com, alinefarnborough.com and apextaxis-farnborough.co.uk in June which, when clicked on, all display Rushmoor Taxis’ own website.
It means that when any of VGT Taxis, Aline Taxis or Apex Taxis, all companies covering the Aldershot and Farnborough area, are searched for using an internet search engine the Rushmoor Taxis website is displayed as one of the top results.
Gary Marshall, a director at VGT Taxis, said he felt the behaviour, known as ‘cybersquatting’, was misleading to customers and that he had contacted the company about it.
“I’m very much into the internet and social media advertising but if people see our distinct vans on the road and search on the internet for us they get two results,” he said.
“I don’t think that's the way a public transport company should be behaving. It’s not something I consider professional. You should be selling yourself as yourself.
“It would be wholly wrong to create a billboard with the name of another company and our phone number on it, so why is it different on the internet?”
He added that, since customers can make complaints about taxi companies to Rushmoor Borough Council, it could result in a complaint being mistakenly made against the wrong company.
Mr Marshall said he would not consider the same tactics of cybersquatting and added that if other companies were to do so it could confuse customers further.
Shak Ilyas, manager of Apex Taxis, called the practice devious. “It’s a deceptive game being played out there,” he said. “We’re quite a small operations compared to Rushmoor Taxis. We feel they have stooped really low.”
A board member at Rushmoor Taxis, who did not want to be named, said a letter from one of the rival companies had been handed to solicitors. He said the use of the VGT acronym referred to Very Good Taxis, Rushmoor Taxis’ slogan, and that the domain names had been purchased only to help customers find the company. He added that the company legitimately paid to boost its presence in internet searches and this was the main reason it featured prominently.
“There is nothing illegal about what we’ve done,” he said. “We are not trying to be underhand.”
He also pointed to the fact that other companies had adopted the same tactics such as Apex Taxis' use of a domain name that referred to the Farnborough Air Show.
Mr Ilyas admitted it was a marketing tool he used, but that using the name of a rival was ‘taking it to the next level’.
A Hampshire County Council spokesman said: “Trading Standards is aware of the issue of ‘cybersquatting’, but in this instance no consumer laws appear to have been broken.
“However, businesses affected may be able to seek redress through the civil courts if they feel their reputations have been damaged.”
source:
http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/loca ... xi-5712548
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