Squarespace ran a 2017 Superbowl ad that rings a bell for domain owners with JohnMalkovich.com as the domain name story line but the funny thing is, JohnMalkovich.com isn’t even registered “with” Squarespace’s “official” domain registrar.
Technically speaking, Squarespace isn’t even a domain name registrar, like GoDaddy.com is for an example. Squarespace states it’s “official” registrar is Tucows:
Registering a domain through Squarespace gives your website a professional look and avoids the need to register a domain with a third-party provider. All Squarespace Domains are officially hosted by our registrar, Tucows, and managed through your Squarespace site. source
Looking at whois records for JohnMalkovich.com tells the story:
JohnMalkovich.com is registered with domain name registrar Register.it S.P.A., which is owned by DADA Group, not Tucows nor Squarespace.
Based on whois history records, JohnMalkovich.com was acquired from a Francesco Rulli (business partner) of New York, New York on or about May 14, 2015 and then moving to privacy protection. Francesco is shown in whois history records dating all the way back to 2005, so John has likely always been connected to ownership of the domain since it was registered in April 2003.
It’s not required to have your domain name registered with Squarespace/Tucows, but they suggest it (transferring it) and recommend doing so to connect to your web site easily.
Practice what you preach.
The Ad (one of them at least) https://youtu.be/vNInrUkctc4
So what do you really do if somebody owns a domain name you wish to use? In the end, I highly suggest you hire a professional domain name buyer broker like myself, that deeply understands domain names and will do the work for you for a small fee. Buying an already registered domain name requires a lot of knowledge and skill, so heading out into deep water can be risky, so the first thing you need to do is contact a professional to help and that somebody certainly can be me. Contact Me Today with your domain needs.
Gotta say, I loved that John Malkovich ad. Pleased to see a person feeling angry “their” domain is taken – but by another LEGITIMATE owner. By deft implication, SquareSpace just explained the domain market to a mass audience in a way they’ll instantly understand.
I loved the ad as well and it really felt like it was a Domain Name Buyer Broker type ad, other than building a website.
True. And I’ll bet we’re both 200% ok with that odd emphasis!
Lol nice catch Jamie.
I doubt normal people care at all.
By dint of being domainers, we’re all abnormal people. Just because we’re in the minority.