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 appears to be different for their .com domains. The fact is that they are missing out on 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 - not great brand protection.

Here are the results:

wwwfiat.com : owned by 3rd party, PPC site where you can search for Nissan, VW, Fiat etc.

myfiat.com : owned by 3rd party. PPC site where you can search for new and used cars.

buyfiat.com : owned by 3rd party. PPC site where Fiat dealers advertise and you can also go to dating sites or get a credit card deal...

fiatonline.com : owned by 3rd party. PPC for popular non car related categories.

fiatsucks.com : owned by other 3rd party. Leads to a blank page but if you are a responsible IP manager you do not want someone else to be the registrant of this potential haters page.

fiatusa.com : owned by Fiat. Way to go...

fiats.com : owned by 3rd party. PPC links for Ford, Fiat, Honda, used car parts and some very annoying pop ups.

Some of the domains were for sale directly on the web site. We contacted the registrants and domains were offered to us between $3.000,- and $ 12.500,-. High priced considering that the domains are potentially infringing a very known trademark, and could very probably be recovered easily by Fiat. But as long as Fiat ignores this issue it makes sense traffic-wise. A domain like wwwfiat.com is sure to have thousands of monthly visitors.

Below you can insert your own brand and secure your top 10 terms for .com.