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Hi Karina! This is a little bit of tricky question, simply because there are so many unknowns. It doesn't sound like you're being penalized in any way since you are still ranking a little bit, but just aren't increasing in the rankings any longer. It has been my experience that with older domains, like your hyphenated one, it doesn't matter too much if it's hyphenated or has two words, etc. in it. Usually age trumps all.

If you just want to move your site since you already bought the new domain name, make sure to follow these best practices from Google: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/83105?hl=en

However, I would be very happy to take a look at your site for you and give you a better and more helpful response. Just shoot me your website via a private message and I'll do some research for you and get back to you.

Doesn't seem like anyone has mentioned it but, just in case, make sure you have your rel="canonical" tags published properly on every page. Here's a link for more if you need it:

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/139394?hl=en

1. This has been helpful to us in the past. Give it a try if you don't mind spending the money on the TLDs. Just 301 redirect them to the .com.

2. Even though it is a web app, do you do any sort of blogging or content marketing? What's the URL of the app?

3. What I mean by this is, have you tried building relationships with press/bloggers/content creators located in the countries/geographies that you are targeting?

4. Glad to help!

If it was me, I'd find a reputable marketing firm first, and then see if link building or offsite optimization is one of their marketing tactics of their overall marketing strategy. I wouldn't hire or use a company that solely build links. It might hurt you in the long run.

Unfortunately, there is nothing illegal about what the competitor is doing. We have dealt with similar issues in the past with some of our clients and have found that the advertiser is not breaking Google's TOS. Technically speaking, the competing advertiser is completely within their rights, especially if the brand they are cloning is not officially trademarked.

This is not to say that it is ethical, however. As a marketer and advertiser I would personally have a hard time doing this myself or justifying my team in doing it. We often bid on competitor's names, but we never try to make it look like we are the competitor.

Is it clever? A little bit. Could it get you a positive ROI? Probably. Is it worth it? Nope. In many industries a strategy like this could destroy a company's reputation or ruin interindustry relationships. Personally, I believe the longterm consequences are not worth the temporary reward.