Wikipedia states that Typosquatting, also called URL hijacking, is a form of cybersquatting which relies on mistakes such as typographical errors made by Internet users when inputting a website address into a web browser. Should a user accidentally enter an incorrect website address, they may be led to an alternative website owned by a cybersquatter.
How you can create your own typosquat domain is simple.
1. Think of common websites/urls that people type into their browser such as www.google.com.
2. Think of the easiest way that people could mistype it. (Try typing it real fast and see what you come up with ex. www.gooogle.com)
3. Take the list of different misspellings of a domain name and check to see if those domain names are owned by anyone by using a domain name search like Godaddy.com or a whois directory.
4. Type in the misspelled domain name and search to see if anyone owns that domain. In my example gooogle.com is owned by google.com so it is not a good choice.
5. Keep trying different misspelled domain names until you fine one that is not owned.
6. When you find a domain that is not owned, purchase that domain.
7. Create a web site for the domain that you purchased and slap ads all over it with services like Google Adsense or AdBrite.
8. Watch and see how many suckers misspell the domain name and reach your site. Sit back and watch the money come in.
9. If you are good at programming you can create a website that has the ads on it and also has some useful information on it so that when people stumble upon your site they click the ads generating more revenue.
The practice of typosquatting is frowned upon, but legal to do. In a recent article Google Typosquatting Study by The register, the Register estimated that google may be earning up to $497 million a year in typosquatting. I would like a little piece of that pie and so should you. Good luck coming up with domain name that closely mimic commonly typed in domain names.
Bonus: A good way to figure out what domain names are typed in the most is to check on Alexa’s top sites. Alexa’s top sites are the ones that most people type in without using a search engine and generally mistype the most.