My hotdog fingers and laptop keys are not exactly a match made in heaven. I frequently hit two keys at once, and end up typing gobbledygook or navigating obscure websites. But I’m not alone! To my great consolation, there’s an entire industry that makes money from oafs like me making typos.
It shifts a bit at times but as I'm doing this vital research, Yahoo.com ranks supreme as the most visited website in the world. It also kind of boringly defends its neighborhood. It takes fingers like buttocks to not end up at Yahoo.com.
Telling your browser to go to Yaho.com or Yahu.com gets you swiftly redirected to Yahoo.com. But if you type in Yahoe.com, Yohaa.com, Yachoo.com, Yahuu.com, Iahoo.com and a score of similar mutants, you'll hit a chipper Yahoo search page and the kind admonition that the requested page doesn't exist.
Jahoo.com actually exists, but shows nothing but: Ceci n'est pas www.yahoo.com! (French for: Here Yahoo.com is not), which is kind of funny but it seems a waste of crumbs from a very fat table. Yqhoo.com is claimed but not showing. Yzhoo.com gets you the uppity Yahoo search page again.
Finally we find Yoohoo.com, which redirects to a website where you can sign up for the fabulous invention of internet phone.
Gogle.com, Googel.com, Googleg.com, Googla.com, Googled.com, Googlee.com, and I'm sure a lot more redirect to Google.com
Goolec.com however leads to some obscure directory. Apparently, fewer than 1800 people per month make this typo. But more than 60% are women.
Googles.com a fun science site for kids, featuring creatures from a place called Goo. For some reason their amount of monthly visitors made a nose dive, dropping from 130,000 in January 2008 to zero a month later. Four months after that they got back on the rise. Good for them.
Youtube.com managed to achieve such legendary stardom that every possible variant leads somewhere.
The t-key sits left of the y-key. Typing in Toutube.com leads to what used to be an 18+ video portal. Presently Toutube.com offers lists of lists to links of what seems to be more lists of video related websites. Another true typo, Youtubec.com also leads to a portal with again scores of video-related websites and little original contend. A site called Yootube.com offers nothing but ads under deceptive links. Youtoob.com redirects to Jokeroo.com, for all your cyber fun and entertainment.
Other Tube.com-sites (not listing the many 18+Tube sites): GabberTube.com, FileTube.com, TeacherTube.com, GodTube.com, DailyTube.com, FootyTube.com, SchoolTube.com, DNATube, HalalTube.com, Down-Tube.com, WestIndianTube, HoodTube.com, GospelTube.com, Para-Tube.com, JewTube.com and many thousands more.
Live.com is the Microsoft search engine site, but typing in Life.com gets you to the website of Life Magazine. If you manage to hit the c-key that sits left of the v-key, you'll be made into an expert on head lice by the people of Lice.com. If you slip to the right of the v-key onto the b-key, you'll zip into Libe.com which redirects to Liberation.com, a humungous French culture site.
Kive.com is aVegas portal. Pive.com is a very clever site that looks like it shows original content but is really nothing but ads. And then there are of course Liver.com, Luve.com, Love.com, Livec.com, Laive.com, and God knows what else.
The Microsoft network website has a three-letter URL-core, which used to be seen as an advantage. Quickly, however, it became clear that abstractions are poor mnemonic anchors and that URLs based on single words or snappy phrases are remembered much better.
Scores of dyslectics or sausage-fingers like me invariably end up at the following sites:
MNS.com, a portal that promises “what you need, when you need it.” NMS.com, a search engine. NNS.com, a site pertaining to shipping business. MSM.com, somebody's Amazon store that's now finally going to get some traffic. MMS.com, the official M&M's website, and MNMS.com, a yummy site full of chocolate and merriment.
MySpace.com is another example of blitz stardom around which myriads of almost-MySpaces cloud to catch all who slip off a key. Me!
According to a few Whois services we consulted, the MySpace account was created in 1996. The famous website, however, came in 2006. In late 1998 a very lucky New York real estate agency created NYSpace, and surely has been living happily ever after.
MyPage.com is a site offering pages for people who want a site but don't have one. All for free!
Forgetting the y and typing in MSpace.com turns up the minimalistic entree-page of Microspace Instuments Inc., which features a helpful “Looking for MySpace.com?” link to Myspace.com. Now that's thoughtful.
MySpacec.com turns up a similar site as MNS.com: “what you need, when you need it.” Behind all these rip-off websites is probably a flubber-finger like me, with a way better business sense. Here's one more: YourSpace.com! Kind of cute, though.
Also very original: MineSpace.com, Mispace.com (for all your litigation and inter dating issues), MaiSpace.com (“affordable personal workspaces”).
MeyeSpace.com, appears to be the video blog of this really cool kid. Hey, let's all go there and crank up this guy's views!
Together with YouTube, Wikipedia is among the most imitated websites ever. Wikipedia.com cleverly redirects to the dot-org site. Wikipedai.com and dot-org do nothing but produce scores of pop-ups and pop-unders. Wikepedia.org yields more ads. Wikkipedia.org brings us home to the “what you need, when you need it” flip-finger dude.
Theodepia.com is an enormous Theological encyclopedia. Theopedia.org and dot-info are claimed by a German Evangelical Church. A Lost fan site also adopted the Pedia.org format and became LostPedia.org. Then there are ScholarPedia.org, BallotPedia.org, TobaccoPedia.org, HostPedia.org, WhiskyPedia.org, ZioPedia.org, SemPedia.org, HowtoPedia.org, GlottoPedia.org and scores of scores of dot-org and dot-com variants.
Facbook.com and Fagebook.com are claimed but not showing. Fasebook.com is a museless directory. Vacebook.com, Flacebook.com and Faceboop.com.com yield nothing but ads. Facebok and Faceboek.com belong to old swing-pink (“what you need, when you need it”). Fecebook.com seems to have something to do with lots of psychology-related ads. Facebooi.com redirects to a dating site. How romantic.
Bloger.com at first glance looks like a pretty slick genealogy site but turns out to be nothing but a portal. It's very similar to Pive.com. Blugger.com is for sale! Only $250! And for $19.95 extra someone special will tell you whether you've lost your mind or not! Probably not!
Bligger.com is a brand new image bank which only lets you upload your images and that's that then. There are no further links on that site.
Blopper.com is claimed but not showing. Bloggert.com is a boring portal. Bogger.com and Bloggerc.com are with Floppy Big Thumb, still needing when he needs it.
Bloggel.com is in the hands of a blogger named Eric D. Brown, a really nice chap (I emailed him) with much more, way better looking websites.
What a great article, thanks for the mention. I'll see if I can Digg it and then link it off of my blog on Bloggel.com
Thanks for the mention and the kind words, I think you are the first to refer to me as a "nice chap" - quite charming for a native Californian! :-)
- Eric
bloggel.com
P.S. Thanks for the nice mention about my interface - it is powered by Wordpress.
#2 by s hayes, Jun 19, 2008
great article - ingenious - we all hit the wrong keys from time to time.
I once sent out a document from work to a client that was supposed to say "Statement of Account" - I missed out the letter "o" of account.
It was probably a mor accurate statement!
#3 by Glynis Smy, Aug 10, 2008
What a clever article, I was fascinated by it, I am off to enter some typos now, yes I am that sad ;)
I am going to stumble it and put it on my website as a link back to here in my writers corner. Well done loved it!
What a great article, thanks for the mention. I'll see if I can Digg it and then link it off of my blog on Bloggel.com
Thanks for the mention and the kind words, I think you are the first to refer to me as a "nice chap" - quite charming for a native Californian! :-)
- Eric
bloggel.com
P.S. Thanks for the nice mention about my interface - it is powered by Wordpress.