I read an article on subdomain leasing that I thought was kind of interesting. I can’t say I read anything on this topic before. The article was published on SearchEngineLand.com. The author on SEL was of course interested in the SEO ramifications and what Google thought on the topic.
Apparently Google replied awhile back to a question with a series of tweets.
Google also addressed the practice via a three-part tweet from its Google Webmasters account on August 14. It stated: “We’ve been asked if third-parties can host content in subdomains or subfolders of another’s domain. It’s not against our guidelines. But as the practice has grown, our systems are being improved to better know when such content is independent of the main site & treat accordingly. Overall, we’d recommend against letting others use subdomains or subfolders with content presented as if it is part of the main site, without close supervision or the involvement of the primary site. Our guidance is if you want the best success with Search, provide value-added content from your own efforts that reflect your own brand.”
Subdomain leasing
Here was an example of a coupon site using CNN
Third parties may publish content onto a subdomain that is owned by another brand, with an unclear amount of involvement from the main site owner. Take coupons.cnn.com, for example — there’s even a banner stating, “CNN Coupons is a destination that provides deals and discounts for online retailers. It is a collaboration between CNN Digital and Global Savings Group. CNN news staff is not involved. When you make a purchase, CNN earns a commission.”
Read the full article here as I believe it’s worth a read and a bookmark.
Could this provide another source of income for those holding premium, generic .coms?
I own :
Subwebsites.com
and
Subwebsite.com
If anyone is interested.
I received an email in June from someone who offer $1,500 a month to create a subdomain on domainnamewire. The pitch was:
“In exchange, we’d publish 10 articles (no links) on the subdomain in your vertical and promote them
on social media. We earn revenues only from the ads we place on articles we publish.”
I assume they try to arbitrage between social media ads on whatever ads they cram on the subdomain.
That’s insane. You should have taken them up on it.
This kind of thing is one of the first things I read about when I first got into domaining in 2001. It does not appear to have taken off in popularity.
Web.com sold subdomains around 1999 or 2000 for around $15-$30 a year if I remember correctly. No premium pricing for subdomains like movies, money, games, etc. Sadly, they went in a different direction within a year or so and everybody was left high and dry by not letting people renew. I learned then never to be tied to someone else’s domain. Don’t build a house on another person’s property. I wish I had spent the few thousand I spent on those great subdomains for something of lasting value.
It was Centralnic’s primary business model for years.