While Pingdom posits that the introduction of Google Adsense might be the key factor in the increasing number of domain disputes I think a bigger factor has been the steady rise in domain values that began in late 2003. When mainstream media started reporting on the domain boom, awareness of the high value of good domains became far more widespread. That prompted legal experts in our annual State of the Industry reports to predict that WIPO cases would shoot up as covetous parties looked for ways to get their hands on those valuable assets without paying market value for them. 

In our January 2006 report, attorney Ari Goldberger noted, ""We witnessed a big increase in domain name disputes in 2005 as the increased value of domains justified the associated legal costs. There were also more attempted reverse domain name hijackings and domain thefts. Domain owners need to make protection of their domains a primary part of their business strategy, being careful to avoid collisions with parties that own trademarks identical or confusingly similar to their domains. That means being careful to avoid PPC links for products sold by such trademark owners or their competitors. In 2006, as ecommerce continues to grow internationally, there will be more and more disputes of all kinds involving domain names - the real estate and storefronts of the Internet." 

Pingdom's new report shows how prescient Goldberger was when he made those comments almost three years ago. Since complainants have won 85% of WIPO cases even those with flmsy claims are emboldened to make a run at domains they would like to take from current owners. 

Organizers of the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Silicon Valley 2009 conference coming up in April are reminding those thinking about attending that tomorrow night (Dec. 31) at midnight is the deadline to get a free 7-DVD set as an early registration bonus. The DVD's feature Steve Forbes, Terry Jones, Tom Gardner, Barbara Corcoran, Jim McCann, John Reese plus Andrew Miller and Mike "Zappy Zapolin" speaking at previous T.R.A.F.F.I.C. shows.