Saunders To Give Back Two Domain Names To Non-Saunders Agents - 27 East

Residence

Residence / 1390720

Saunders To Give Back Two Domain Names To Non-Saunders Agents

authorMichelle Trauring on May 20, 2011

Saunders & Associates is poised to return two registered domain names to the Corcoran and Prudential Douglas Elliman agents they’re named after, with founder Andrew Saunders labeling the move to register them as an “overzealous” internal error and an honest mistake.

Last December and this past February, the agency purchased SusanBreitenbach.com and Michaelakeszler.com, respectively, for $12.17 each through registrar GoDaddy.com. Susan Breitenbach is a Corcoran senior vice president and associate broker. Michaela Keszler is a senior vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Prior to Friday, May 20, those who typed in the site names for Ms. Breitenbach and Ms. Keszler would be directed to the Saunders website. As of Friday afternoon, the sites in both women’s names had been disabled.

“We’re just going to give them back,” Mr. Saunders said on Friday afternoon. “It’s probably a fair trade for the trauma that was caused by the whole thing.”

Saunders has long employed a web strategy that scoops up domain names proven to match search phrases entered into popular search engines, he explained. Once registered with Saunders, the domain names are then automatically redirected to SaundersRE.com.

“A couple years ago, we purchased Hamptonsrealestate.com for $100,000,” said Mr. Saunders, whose agency owns more than 3,000 domain names. “That event was very constructive.”

Mr. Saunders said the issue was brought to his attention by Curbed Hamptons, an online real estate blog.

“When, I guess, my guys saw the names that you could buy very inexpensively, they did it—and they shouldn’t have,” Mr. Saunders said. “It was improper. The names are being returned. There was no intention to hurt anybody. We do have a very aggressive web strategy, but in this case what was done was clearly an internal mistake. Our strategy does not include buying the names of non-Saunders brokers.”

Mr. Saunders said he planned to transfer the domain names to the two agents through GoDaddy.com on Friday afternoon. The agency is setting up GoDaddy accounts for Ms. Breitenbach and Ms. Keszler where the domain names will be dropped. Mr. Saunders added that he will give the women the access codes to the accounts, which they will then be able to change, barring access to Saunders.

“All of this will be in their control by the end of the afternoon,” Mr. Saunders said on Friday. “They’ll then do what they want with their domain names.”

You May Also Like:

Design Approaches to Historical Restoration Projects

Restoring a historical structure can be a daunting and complicated task. Oftentimes, the first question ... 1 Apr 2025 by Anne Surchin, R.A

Start Plants From Seed, and Save

It may seem a bit late to be discussing growing plants from seeds since some ... by Andrew Messinger

Mt. Cuba Center's Sam Hoadley Will Present 'Knockout Natives' on April 13 in Bridgehampton

The next guest in the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons’ monthly lecture series will tout ... by Brendan J. O’Reilly

Living Lands and Landscape Therapy

Levi was nipping at Tim Wheeler’s ankles as he walked down our driveway, wearing a ... 27 Mar 2025 by Kelly Ann Smith

Andrea Barnet To Speak to Westhampton Garden Club on April 7

Andrea Barnet, the author of “Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall and ... 25 Mar 2025 by Staff Writer

Pot Them, Don't Plant Them

We once called it gardening by mail. You received a catalog from, let’s say, Wayside ... by Andrew Messinger

The March Garden Ramble

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with the members of the Remsenburg Garden ... 22 Mar 2025 by Andrew Messinger

AIA Peconic and Southampton Arts Center Present 'City Dreamers' Screening for Women's History Month

You can find important pieces of women’s history all around. It can be in the ... 17 Mar 2025 by Jon Winkler

Clematis: The Queen of Vines

This week a continued look at the Queen of Vines, the Clematis. Hopefully, after reading ... 13 Mar 2025 by Andrew Messinger

Marders Offers Free Sunday Garden Talks

Marders in Bridgehampton continues its series of free Sunday garden talks this spring. On March 16, the topic is The How & Why of Self-Sowing Seeds. No-Till Gardening, on the benefits of using compost, plant waste wood chops and cardboard in lieu of tilling, follows on March 23. Choosing and Using Hydrangeas will close out the month on March 30. April 6 is Planning a Potager, on how to combine herbs, vegetables and flowers in one beautiful garden. April 13 is How & When To Start Any Kind of Seed in Zone 7a. After taking Easter Sunday off, the talks ... 11 Mar 2025 by Staff Writer