The world of domain management is a strange one, and Sanmay Ved proved that recently when he managed to purchase and claim ownership of Google.com.

During a late night browsing session, Sanmay was researching Googles new domain registrant platform and noticed that the domain Google.com was available.

To his surprise, he was able to purchase the domain, but within an hour or received an email from Google stating that the domain had been taken during his checkout process.

Sanmay’s discovery brings light to the world of domain management, one of the more complex areas of reputation management.

What can brands takeaway from Sanmays discovery, and what steps can be taken to protect domains and mitigate risk?

Here are three takeaways we can learn from this story.

Register Your Domain Name for at Least 5 Years in Advance

Rather than updating your domain every year, purchase the domain for 5 or 10 years at a time. This will provide less opportunities for your domain to expire. As credit cards expire and domain registrant logins get misplaced, your domain will be protected for years to come.

Setup Domain Auto-Renewal

With most domain registrants, auto renewal is as simple as a checkbox in your administrative panel so it’s always a good idea to set this up from day one. When your domain expiration date approaches, your domain will be automatically be renewed and your card will be charge.

Between these two simple tasks, 90% of your domain concerns will be eliminated.

Monitor Your Brand Name in Domain Registrant Databases

Want to get notified anytime someone registrars a domain containing your brand name? That’s the exact service that Domain Tools offers. Setup an account and rest easy knowing that any parody or defamation websites are just an email away from being removed.