A recent study by McAfee, a maker of computer security software, discusses the extent of typo squatting: "What's in a name: The state of typo squatting 2007".

Typo squatting or URL hijacking, is a form of cybersquatting which relies on mistakes such as typographical errors made by Internet users. Someone registers a domain name by using a misspelled version of a common brand name so that unsuspecting users are redirected to their websites. McAfee studied 1.9 million typographical variations of 2771 of the most popular web sites and found that 127,381 of these sites were suspected typo-squatters. The study uses the example of Apple/iPhone and predicts that by the end of 2007 there will be at least 8000 registered domain names incorporating variants of the word iPhone. These will include anything from fan sites to scam sites.

Some of McAfee's key findings are:

• A typical consumer who misspells a popular Web site URL has a 1 in 14 chance of landing at a likely typo-squatter site.


• The five most highly squatted categories are game sites (14.0%), airlines (11.4%), main stream media company sites (10.8%), adult sites (10.2%) and technology and Web 2.0 related sites (9.6%).


• Children’s sites are highly targeted by typo squatters. The average for the category is 8.4% and 24 of the top most squatted sites are children’s properties for kids 12 and under. Add in sites like MySpace and Miniclip and more than 60 of the top most squatted sites are properties that appeal to the 18 and under demographic.


• Squatters follow consumer crowds. Squatters follow consumer crowds. Popular, consumer-focused Web sites typically attract more squatters than business to business sites or niche content sites.

Further information on "typo squatting" can be found here.