Based on the 10 most common terms used for .com brand abuse we have looked at the case of Fiat the Italian car manufacturer. For such a strong brand in the car industry it was expected that their IP rights are well protected. The reality is different. The fact is that they are missing valuable web traffic which is being directed to pay per click (PPC) sites linking mostly to their competition. Secondly, anyone expecting to visit the web site of Fiat is only one click away from "Congratulations, you are the one millionth visitor" pop ups.

wwwfiat.com : Owned by domain pirate, PPC site where you can search for Nissan, VW, Fiat etc.
myfiat.com : owned by domain pirate. PPC site where you can search for new and used cars.
buyfiat.com : owned by domain pirate. PPC site where Fiat dealers advertise and you can also find dating sites or where to get a credit card deal...
fiatonline.com : owned by domain pirate. PPC for popular non car related categories.
fiatsucks.com : owned by domain pirate. Blank page but if you are a responsible IP manager you do not want someone else to be the registrant of this potential hate page.
fiatusa.com : Owned by Fiat. Way to go...
fiats.com : Owned by domain pirate. PPC links for Ford, Fiat, Honda, used car parts and some very annoying pop ups.

Some of the domains were for sale on the web site directly and for others we contacted the registrants. fiatonline.com was offered to us for £ 3.000,- and wwwfiat.com $ 12.500,-. A bit expensive considering that the domains are infringing a very known trademark, and could easily be recovered by Fiat legally. But traffic wise a domain like wwwfiat.com is sure to have thousands of monthly visitors, which would make the price reasonable.

Below you can insert your own brand and check if you are well protected or you are Fiat !