Enter the modern-day Gold Rush. At midnight (Eastern Time) Saturday morning, Facebook will open the floodgates on vanity URLs, allowing its more than 200 million users to claim their customized stake on the social media site, The New York Times reports.
As anticipation builds for the rush to claim the most SEO-friendly names, Facebook has confirmed plans to release the vanity URLs on a first-come, first-serve basis. Trademark holders will also be given the opportunity to fill out forms protecting their brands, leaving Facebook to internally mediate a potential flood of disputes.
Some industry observers predict the move could blow up in Facebook's face if flurries of lawsuits start flying in, much like they did in the early dot-com grab.
