Keyboard Adjacency Errors
The most common type of typo occurs when users accidentally hit a neighboring key on their keyboard.
Understanding Keyboard Adjacency
Keyboard adjacency errors are among the most common typing mistakes. They occur when a user's finger slips and hits a neighboring key instead of the intended one. Our research shows that these errors account for approximately 30% of all domain typos.
The likelihood of a keyboard adjacency error depends on several factors, including the physical distance between keys, the frequency of the characters in the domain name, and the typing speed of the user.
Our typo analysis engine uses a detailed keyboard layout map to calculate the physical distance between keys. This allows us to assign probability scores to different potential typos based on how likely they are to occur due to keyboard proximity.
QWERTY Keyboard Layout Coordinates
q: { x: 0, y: 0 }
w: { x: 1, y: 0 }
e: { x: 2, y: 0 }
r: { x: 3, y: 0 }
t: { x: 4, y: 0 }
y: { x: 5, y: 0 }
u: { x: 6, y: 0 }
i: { x: 7, y: 0 }
o: { x: 8, y: 0 }
p: { x: 9, y: 0 }
Distance Calculation Formula
We use the Euclidean distance formula to calculate the physical distance between keys:
Keys with a distance ≤ 1.5 are considered adjacent and have a high probability of being mistyped.
- a ↔ s, q, z
The letter 'a' is commonly mistyped as 's', 'q', or 'z' due to keyboard proximity.
Example: amazon.com → smazon.com - e ↔ w, r, d, s
The letter 'e' is frequently confused with its adjacent keys.
Example: google.com → googlw.com - n ↔ b, h, j, m
The letter 'n' has several adjacent keys that can cause typos.
Example: netflix.com → metflix.com - o ↔ i, p, l, k
The letter 'o' is often mistyped with its neighboring keys.
Example: yahoo.com → yahoi.com
Our typo analysis engine assigns a base probability score of 80% to keyboard adjacency errors, making them the most likely type of typo to occur. This score is then adjusted based on the specific key distance:
- Directly adjacent keys (d ≤ 1.0)80% probability
- Diagonally adjacent keys (1.0 < d <= 1.5)60% probability
- Nearby but not adjacent (1.5 < d <= 2.0)40% probability
- Distant keys (d > 2.0)20% probability
These scores help us rank typo variations by likelihood, allowing you to focus on the most probable typos first.
Keyboard Layout Variations
While our analysis is based on the standard QWERTY keyboard layout, it's worth noting that different keyboard layouts (such as AZERTY or Dvorak) would produce different adjacency patterns. Our system currently focuses on QWERTY as it's the most widely used layout globally.
Keyboard Adjacency in Typosquatting
Keyboard adjacency errors are frequently exploited by typosquatters due to their high probability. Common targets include:
- Banking websites - Typosquatters create domains with common keyboard adjacency errors to target users of banking websites, potentially leading to phishing attacks.
- E-commerce sites - High-traffic shopping sites are prime targets, with typosquatters creating domains that capitalize on common mistyping patterns.
- Email services - Typos in email domains can lead to misdirected emails containing sensitive information.
- Social media platforms - Popular social media sites often see typosquatting attempts that try to capture login credentials.
Protecting your brand from keyboard adjacency typosquatting involves registering the most likely typo variations of your domain and monitoring for potential typosquatting attempts.