Lieferando.de has captured 5.7% of restaurant related domain names

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Domain squatting & Lieferando’s tactics

  • Many commenters see Lieferando’s mass registration of restaurant-like .de domains as deceptive, “worse than” ordinary squatting because it diverts direct customers to a middleman.
  • Reports that they also claim Google Maps listings with those domains and then charge restaurants to correct contact details are viewed as extortionary and possibly fraudulent.
  • One insider-like comment claims restaurants are asked at onboarding whether they want a domain and can later have it removed easily; others doubt restaurants fully understand the implications.

Legal and regulatory landscape

  • Debate over who is responsible: ICANN vs. national ccTLD registries. For .de, commenters note ICANN has no role; DENIC and German regulators do.
  • Various remedies are mentioned: UDRP, DENIC’s own dispute system, trademark actions, and country-specific rules (e.g., some ccTLDs and .dk disallow such use).
  • Several believe current German/EU law already covers this as fraud or unfair competition but is under-enforced; small restaurants lack money and time to litigate or secure trademarks.
  • Some suggest EU “gatekeeper” regulation could be extended to constrain this behavior, particularly via search and maps.

Role of Google, Maps, and verification

  • Google’s handling of business listings is seen as a key enabler: whoever claims first with a plausible site often wins.
  • Older postcard-based address verification is remembered; some say it’s no longer consistently used. Proposals: mandatory physical mail verification and stricter policy enforcement around “delivery-only brands.”
  • Others note physical mail is itself unreliable and bureaucratic; some recount serious issues with postal systems.

Impact on small restaurants & rebranding

  • Rebranding to dodge squatted domains is considered impractical: legacy reputation, decades of history, and local recognition make name changes costly.
  • Even with a new domain, a small restaurant can’t realistically out-compete a large platform’s SEO and ad budget.
  • Some fear platforms are inserting themselves between local businesses and customers (analogies to booking.com, doctolib) and permanently raising transaction costs.

Property, taxation & ethics debates

  • Heated subthread over whether domain squatting and land hoarding should be illegal, and whether progressive “domain taxes/fees” could deter bulk hoarding; others dismiss this as unworkable globally.
  • Broader argument about whether companies are inherently unethical vs. constrained by regulation; some say only strong laws and enforcement work, others insist many firms do behave ethically in practice.

DNS, domains & alternatives

  • Several argue DNS and domain ownership are too complex and administratively heavy for small businesses, pushing them into walled gardens (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook).
  • Others warn that relying on social platforms is even riskier: accounts can be removed arbitrarily, with no neutral infrastructure like DNS behind them.
  • Ideas floated: government-provided landing pages tied to business registration, better “one-click” domain+hosting bundles, or new identity/discovery systems; skepticism remains about replacing DNS without recreating similar hurdles.

Comparisons & user experience

  • Grubhub in the US is cited for near-identical past tactics, previously under the same corporate umbrella as Lieferando.
  • Some criticize Lieferando’s app and service quality, suggesting that anti-competitive domain tactics may be propping up an otherwise weak product.