Is cybersquatting a good way to make money?

Which companies or individuals engage in it, aside from salenames?

I have to say that cybersquatting is not really a great way to make money, and I would never recommend it to anyone who is serious about building a legitimate and sustainable business. Sure, there might be cases where someone snatches a domain name and manages to sell it for a high price, but this is rare and usually comes with a lot of legal risks and problems. Honestly, in most cases, cybersquatting just comes across as unethical and can damage your reputation.

For those unfamiliar, cybersquatting involves registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with the bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of someone else's trademark or brand. Basically, people register domain names that are the same or very similar to established company names or famous brands, hoping that the company will pay a huge amount of money to buy the domain back.

A famous example is when someone registered "Panavision.com" hoping the camera company would pay them a fortune to hand it over. Instead, Panavision took them to court and won, making the whole scheme pointless. The truth is, most big companies would rather sue the cybersquatters than pay them. The costs of legal action might be high, but for multi-million or billion-dollar corporations, it's nothing compared to the damage cybersquatting can cause their brand image.

And let's not forget, some individual domainers think they can jump on this bandwagon, registering hundreds of domain names, hoping one will pay off. Well, let me tell you—most of these domains just end up collecting dust. Even if you manage to sell a few for a couple hundred bucks, it's really not worth the time and effort. You spend time registering, renewing, and maybe even building some cheap website to make it look legitimate. It's more of a gamble than a business plan.

A couple of years ago, you saw companies like Microsoft, Google, or Apple constantly dealing with these cybersquatting cases. There are always those opportunists who hope to register some new product name or a typo of a famous brand like "Goggle.com" or "Micosoft.net", hoping for a payout. But honestly, these companies have teams of lawyers waiting for this kind of stuff.

Another problem with cybersquatting is that it can get you into serious legal trouble. There are anti-cybersquatting laws, such as the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) in the U.S., that make it easier for companies to take back domain names without paying a dime. You could even end up paying fines or damages if a court finds that you acted in bad faith.

Sure, there are some individuals or companies like "Salenames" or other domain auction sites that have made money from buying and selling domains, but they tend to stay on the right side of the law by not infringing on trademarks. They deal more with generic, high-value domains, like "business.com" or "insurance.com," that could be valuable to a broad range of companies or industries. They aren't engaged in straight-up cybersquatting, which is a whole different thing.
Cybersquatting is a bad idea. Not only is it ethically questionable, but it also comes with a lot of risks and hardly any real reward. You're better off focusing on building a legit online business, offering value to your customers or users instead of trying to cash in on someone else's hard work.

If you got the skill for it, we're building websites and sell domains as we go. The demand stays steady, but don't go crazy registering hundreds right away. Grab a few, then let potential buyers see what you've done first.
Also, make sure your domains really stand out, it can give you that extra edge.

Thousends of domains get purchsed in bulk, not necesarily for resale, but for othir purposes that can generate revenue and help recoup the investment.

Now, when it comes to building a portfolio, yes, ther are individuales out ther who specialise in this, and probaby always will. However, its debatible wether having a large portfolio actualy translates to profits, sinc the key to succes lies not in the quantity of domains, but in the ability to sell them at a decent price. I mean, you could give a novice a top-notch portfolio and they stil wont be able to make a dime out of it, if they dont no how to market and sell them efectively.