President Vladimir Putin of Russia has been labeled a “loser.” His failed, ongoing war in Ukraine, which has effectively walled Russia off from the rest of the world, is ample proof.
However, the designation has been made official by Loser.com, and you can see it for yourself. In your web browser, type the domain and go to the URL. You will be sent to Putin’s Wikipedia entry.
The domain name Loser.com has garnered popularity over the years for accomplishing just this. (There’s even a Wikipedia article for it.) The URL frequently refers users to whoever its owner, Brian Connelly, considers to be the current “greatest loser.” Connelly previously revealed that he registered the domain Loser.com in 1995. He has been employing redirects to taunt world-famous losers because he was unsure what sort of website to construct for the domain name.
It’s unclear when Loser.com began directing visitors to Putin’s Wikipedia page. According to a Wayback Machine cache from February 22, the URL was pointing to a generic “coming soon” landing page. The armed invasion of Ukraine by Russia began just a few days later, on February 24.
The next Wayback Machine record of Loser.com is from the night of March 1, when the domain was redirected to Putin’s Wikipedia page. On the morning of March 2, the first tweet from a person who had noticed the change was uploaded to Twitter.
The most notable reroute on Loser.com occurred in 2015, when the site linked to Kanye West’s Wikipedia article. West had previously chastised singer and songwriter Beck when he defeated Beyonce to the Grammy Award for Album of the Year that year. Loser.com owner Connelly stated he was not a fan of West in comments he made at the time. (Ironically, most people are probably familiar with Beck because of his popular tune “Loser.”)
During the Republican primaries in 2016, Loser.com made headlines once more after Connelly transferred his domain to then-U.S. presidential contender Donald Trump’s Wikipedia page. After the 2020 presidential elections, which Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden, Connelly would link the URL to Trump’s Wikipedia article once more.
Kanye West, Donald Trump, and now Vladimir Putin… Who will Loser.com’s next target be?
