Fusible, always keeping a close eye on domain name registrations and ownership changes, has noticed that Google has taken over the domain name Schemer.com. Interestingly, that URL already leads to a Google service login page, although you’ll hit a dead end when you log on.
There’s more to the story. According to Fusible, the former owner of the domain name was Meevine, a developer of mobile applications (which still owns getschemer.com by the way).
Update: I’m not seeing this in the WHOIS history. Instead, it shows the previous owner of the domain name as E Bour from the company Marathon Oil for me. Either way, it was taken over by Google a few months ago.
I hope they checked Urban Dictionary first.
Meevine, based in Seattle, is the company behind Gatherball, an Android app that basically makes it easier for friends to plan activities (more info here). They own the U.S. trademark for ‘SCHEMER’.
Meevine was co-founded by CEO Paul Watts (formerly at Microsoft, AOL, HTC and some other companies), Ben Demboski and Jonathan Nelson (bother formerly at AOL and RealNetworks).
I’ve asked both Meevine and Google for comment but haven’t heard back yet.
Update: Watts says: “I know about as much as you know at this point.”