The news earlier this month about Network Solutions automatically registering any domain you search for on their site has been universally condemned. And rightly so. Supposedly providing a service, but actually reducing service for your (potential and existing) customers is only ever going end up with reduced market share.
I first read about it on TechCrunch, and then saw Joe's analysis. (It was first reported here as far as we know). Since then there's been a stack of discussion about it and we can only hope the company in question makes a hasty back-pedal. The other possibility – that other domain companies will follow – is just too sad to even contemplate.
Comments on some of the posts suggest that the practice may have been going on for a while at other smaller domain selling companies, but I haven't bothered to investigate further.
With all the stupid money flowing around at the moment, I guess some businesses are getting too caught up in the greed to realise that the real path to success is by building a strong business model around great products, great marketing and most importantly great customer service.
