"400,000 .mobi’s registered .. As a comparison, only 100,000 .com domain names were registered in the first ten years of that domain’s existence."
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,69442.shtml
Summary: Those were different times bub. In this day and age a speculator could inhale 400,000 .mobi’s in 3 minutes. Dot com’s were added painstakingly (onesey twosey) by tens of thousands of individuals and companies over the course of a decade when the Internet was unproven. Today the Internet is proven. I hypothesize that these 400,000 mobi’s are held mainly by large aggregators. I don’t have anything against .mobi per se, but want people to know that I think this registry is just a sales organization. They are selling hope for a .com redux. If it’s not there (and its not IMO), lots of speculators are going to give up and let renewals lapse and complain about domain names in general. That would be bad for the industry. In my opinion these guys are pick and shovel salesmen, selling said picks and shovels in an area with no gold. They are hoping for speculative folks and trademark holders (who want to protect against speculative folks) to line their pockets with annual renewal fees. That’s how I think they will make money: Calling speculators with the siren call of hope and selling ‘protection’ registrations to trademark holders who fear speculators.
The important thing to remember is that there is hardly any natural Type-in-Traffic in .mobi (compared to .com).. The people who actually navigate to these names through their browser are often other speculators checking to see if the registration is taken (that phenomenon happened in the early speculative days of .info/.biz). You might as well open up one of those "Alternate World" websites and offer .mobile names to speculators and trademark holders. That’s how I feel about .mobi (and .mobi’s actually resolve). This feels like the proverbial tree in the forest, that nobody hears falling.
As a domain investor hoping to generate ‘alpha’ (positive cashflow) in this business, I am passing hard on .mobi and sticking to the CC TLDs of the big Countries, .org, .net or .com. I have seen .mobi before, only back then it was called .cc and .info.
Frank,
I agree with you on the .Mobi extension. Is it your belief that .info and .US will never be “truly” successful? I personally think those are the best two investment areas because cheap registrations have driven up use of .info names and the slow but steady growth in the .US TLD. I am interested in your thoughts.
Regards,
Steven
***FS*** Thanks Steven
I honestly don’t see alot of hope for them. The mitigating factor is the number of people coming online. As folks hit the net and there just aren’t enough good names to go around, some people will start to flock to the secondary namespaces to save startup dollars. As they develop real sites in these secondary namespaces (more so than is occurring already) then I think the best .us, .info, .mobi will get credebility and have some real value.. But not at the prices which are presently being reported (some of which are not real sales but rather rebated pageantry to get the pump primed and set precedent IMO). This whole process takes a long time tho.. by the time the big names in secondary namespaces get inertia, I think you would have made way more in .com/.net/.org (namespaces with decades of history). You can’t hurry the curry.. like wine, great namespaces take time to mature.
I’m also a believer that .mobi will ultimately be looked back on as a truly speculative investment with little to no long term value. Here’s an article I read a few months back which reinforced my views of .mobi:
http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2006/11/09/opera_ceo_says.html
Frank…I’m sure you know Rick Schwartz fairly well, and it’s obvious that he’s a very smart man in the domain business – what do you think of his purchase of flowers.mobi for $200K? Was this a play to drive up the value of .mobi sales (as you’ve hinted in previous posts that you’ve seen this happen with other tld’s)? If so, it looked like it worked because we all seen sales of .mobi’s on the secondary market shoot up immediately after.
***FS*** Rick is a smart guy and I’ve watched him talk about ‘.com only’ for years. Rick and his partner Howard run the Traffic show and its not cheap to sponsor/exhibit at that show. .Mobi was a sponsor of the show so there could have been some legitimate rebate arrangement there. This is purely speculative on my part and I have no visibility into those sales aside from being present when the auction took place and witnessing the staccato of the bidding. Opera’s CEO is right. I just don’t want naive newbies lauching headlong into the .mobi space and thinking it’s an easy path to riches.. I do “not” think that it is and am personally steering clear.
Frank,
Rick’s purchase of flowers.mobi was an eye-opener. I have read about some large .mobi purchases, but I am not sure what direction the market will take.
I too have limited my investments in .mobi names, but I couldn’t let domaining.mobi pass me by.
In Germany, don’t they prefer .info to .com as the 2nd choice after .de because it doesn’t leave such a bad taste in their mouth afterwards?
From everything I’ve read on .mobi I think it has more chance of success than failure. There are a few reasons, but the main two are that the .mobi registry is strongly encouraging mobile development, and mobile use already surpasses PC use, and is growing faster than PC use. PC’s themselves are not going to change much anymore, while mobile devices are still evolving with more cool features, and more reasons to use them. Companies that make mobile devices and sell airtime have a strong incentive to grow mobile use. Mobile advertising is in it’s infancy, and will be able to reach the user anywhere, including when they are in the mall, or walking past stores on Main Street. Many big companies are already using .mobi websites. Staggered auctions of .mobi premium names will give the extension more exposure. Some argue that mobile web development doesn’t mean success for the .mobi extension, but I think it will and that they are connected. .mobi success won’t hurt .com, it’s just that the pie is about to get bigger. I’m glad I recently found your blog, Frank, and value reading your opinions even if I disagree. From a fellow Canadian.
I am sure glad all you professionals are in the know. Keep telling that side of it. It will surely slow things down a bit, if that is your intent. Doing that might buy me a little more time to reg some more.mobi domains.
The real truth of the matter is yet to be seen. One thing is for sure about a gold rush. Many sell pans and shovels. A few keep turning over rocks and will not rest until they hit the mother lode.
No domainer should spend money they cannot afford to loose on .mobis. But owning some really good keyword .mobi domains may become a very good investment. Some of the largest American companies like State Farm Insurance have mobi sites. If the extension grows, the .mobi will be gold.
***FS*** Fair comment Goodkarmaco .. don’t bet more than you can afford to loose
Domain Auction Sells 155 Domains for $4.26 Million
Moniker.coms domain auction at the T.R.A.F.F.I.C convention in Las Vegas has ended and turned out to be yet another success. 155 out of the 233 domains on offer were sold for a total of $4.26 million. Compared to the previous auction, which took …
I would agree with some of these comments, especially about the type-in traffic. Where .mobi could be far more lucrative than .com is if, in the future some kind of voice recognition software used with mobile phones is also used with a phone’s browsing software. Though this is a rather far fetched example. A more realistic possibility would be if the mobile browser software was set to .mobi as the default extension – then there would be type-in traffic.
The sales orientation aspect of .mobi may be accurate because the .mobi management saw the mess that EURid made of .eu ccTLD. It was totally exploited by the use of dubious fast-track Benelux trademarks and EU front companies. The registration patterns of some of those aggregators / warehousers / speculators in the landrush were interesting – it was easy to distinguish the professional large scale aggregators from the small scale opportunists. However the scale of the speculation has damaged the credibility of .eu ccTLD. The .com TLD and the relevant ccTLDs are still the main players in the EU. For most citizens of the EU, the .eu ccTLD is irrelevant.
The .mobi management learned from EURid’s incompetence and held the premium generics for auction. This was quite an inversion of the normal landgrab procedure. It edged out many of the smaller domainers and forced the larger ones to pay, initially, far more than they would have done for a domain in a landrush or sunrise phase.
Based on mapping .eu (domains and websites), a very large percentage of active websites and domains in that ccTLD are parked, pointing at holding pages and cybersquatted. But that’s what you get when you match an incompetent registry with no real world (gTLD) experience with a predatory free market.
I think that the .mobi management has done something unique – it may have forced registrants (other than the intellectual property registrants) into the situation of having to develop content in order to drive up the values of the domains. But it might turn out to be a long term investment for domainers.
***FS*** I think you might make some money flipping names to an individual with greater hope.. but business models [yours] involve ‘cashflow’. In the immortal words of Tony Montana: “First you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the women”. The first thing is always the money — First you get the money. How do you get the money? You sell something.. like today.. you sell domains ‘today’ or you sell traffic ‘today’. What kind of names sell today? ASCII domain names with type-in traffic (predominantly). If you had that product you are selling water in the desert. Could you sell .mobi’s today to make money?: Yes, maybe the odd one. Is there type-in traffic in .mobi?: No. If you want to make money (regular money) in this business focus on ASCII domains with type-in traffic. We can focus on the future when it gets here. If Mobis are big in the future.. I will buy them in the future.
dotMOBI investors should read the service agreement
***FS*** Good advice Owen.. all registrants should read their registrar’s service agreement too.. Yet another reason for getting youe own rar.. ‘you’ set the TERMS OF SERVICE
Stop in Your Tracks
Just read a (use PC) good post by Rick Schwartz over on Frank Schillings Blog. Rick (aka Domain King) is a well known domain investor who saw the value of generic .com names and the targeted type-in traffic they often possess very early on…
.MOBI will be to .COM, what FM was to AM…..
Why is .COM “the” domain extention of choice in today’s world?
(I said “today’s”, not “tomorrow’s”)…..
Because you can’t “pocket” your PC, and hit
the road, whether it be to work, play, or travel….OR can you?
Most posts and comments I run across on dotmobi, are generally
negative…what many are drawing their opinions from are “past”
facts and/or their experiences with domaining in general. What
they seem to overlook is the future which is everchanging….now.
Mobility is here, it’s just not saturated yet….and all these
so called “domaineers” are sitting back in their .com fantasy
world thinking they are king of their “domain”….it’s incredible.
I heard a comment made by a very famous and successful domainer
and web portal developer, when offered up a near matching portfolio
of .MOBI domains equal to his developed .COM sites, remark…..
“I don’t do mobi”. I can’t grasp how someone so insightful can
be so close-minded to what is very evident, especially within
the bounds and nature of the internet. Open your eyes, many have
been sucessful at the .COM level, but because you were not able
to enter that game as early as some had, did you not pay out
large funds to acquire most of those prime .COM properties? Now you
are saying you don’t know where the batter’s box is? Do the math
and logic, 4 X as many people have the capability to access….
lets say “SITIOS.MOBI”, in the palm of their hand than do people
sitting(bad for the arse) behind a PC, browsing “sitios.com” at home,
stagnating. A “HI-END” handheld/smartphone costs 1/3 as much as
an average PC….and you would basically have to be braindead to
even let the thought enter your mind, to think that Google(and
all the rest…) hasn’t already wrote the program/algorithms to
incorporate adwords and adsense to the mobile search markets.
Heck they did that 2 years ago. Without Google’s “push”,the extention
would not exist today, not as of yet. Oh yeah, it was coming, no doubt,
but the big “G”, gave her a shove.
So, how can you argue with that….the “G” says “Let there be
Mobility….and there was Mobility”.
Consider the following facts….
1. People generally want to be active and not tied to a desktop or
laptop computer.
2. It will cost companies almost nothing to market and advertise
their .mobi sites.
3. Acceptance, meaning it is second-nature to go to a .mobi site when
logging onto the web. Remember, no longer does logging onto the web
mean using a computer. More and more it means logging while mobile.
4. Finally, deny the fact, that as mobile technology and devices evolve
within this platform, tell me that you “will not” pursue it, buy the
next best device or download the next best app, and/or embrace the
qualities of mobile surfing….
jamie
***FS*** The future?! How old are you? How old were you 10 years ago? How many domain extensions which purported to be the second coming of .com have beaten .com in 10 years?.. ZERO, that’s how many. You only live 70 years (adult effective life/best case). Do you want to make enough money to leave a legacy or do you want to soldier onward in this business holding out hope for the hopeless? Tough love.
Posted by: jamie | March 19, 2007 at 01:09 AM
“.MOBI will be to .COM, what FM was to AM…..
Why is .COM “the” domain extention of choice in today’s world?
(I said “today’s”, not “tomorrow’s”)…..”
Maybe to a domainer that has invested in them but not to the average net surfer. Some people speak of .mobi as if you can’t run a mobile compatible website on Dot Com .
Jamie, Jamie, Jamie.
None of the things you’ve listed need a .mobi domain name.
.mobi will go the way of .name – the solution to a problem that never ever existed.
.mobi sucks as mtld holds all the premiums. Why not just start a registry like mtld and sell all the premiums.
Reserving all the premiums claiming its for the registrants own good and selling them on POOL & T.R.A.F.F.I.C.= PROFIT
Shame on you mtld!
I don’t like to think back to how old I was 10 years ago,only reminds me of the endless amount of generic .coms that were available for a “dime”…the only time/timing that I resolve to is Sept/2005, as I was afforded a view of what was to become of .Mobi, unlike virtually no one could have seen, as I was
thrust into a very unique chain of events (unique, as in the ownership of a specific”.com” domain). Thus, I saw what not even the most seasoned domaineer could have percieved in reference to the forces behind the creation of this extension/platform.
I don’t claim to predict the future,as you claim by your comments,(“or do you want to soldier onward in this business holding out hope for the hopeless?”), but I’ll use the same comparison again….
How many radio bands or media events which purported to be the second coming of entertainment, had beaten AM radio in 60 years?.. ZERO, until FM radio came along, with a better way to deliver to the masses,and just like .Mobi, there existed a large fraction of individuals “in the know”, who shot it down….but you can’t hold
back change.
Remember, history does repeat itself….
FM transmission was presented in 1933, but rejected by RCA who were trying to develop television…..
In 1936, the FM system/concept was described at FCC hearings and the critics predicted the system is impractical and inadequate….
In 1946, post-war radio business exploded as controls were removed, manufacturing of sets resumed, the number of “AM stations” on the air increased from 960 in 1946 to 2000+ in 1949, and 6 millions autos had “AM” radio. A poll found that 63% of the American people regarded radio as their primary source of news(simply stated, you couldn’t carry your TV set along for the ride).
In 1946, FCC issues rules for FM broadcasting, also announces tentative
allocation plans for providing for over 1500 FM stations.
(does any of this sound familiar… “rejections”, the number of FM stations that sprung up almost overnight…IE: .Mobi registrations, the”ECC” and “ICANN”, special “rules and authorizations”…IE: .Mobi premium domains,etc…).
In 1961, FM stereo broadcasting is authorized to begin, after many
different variations, and hearings, and other avenues of broadcastingin AM radio were exhausted….
The outcome….”Moving in Stereo”….no longer dull, analog “AM”,we had crisp, clean, vibrant, and NEW MUSIC…after all the “BS”, after all the nay-sayers….I accept the premise, that a straight and easy path to a goal or project will produce a straight, and simple(dull) end product,
and the hard and well thought out project will create something unique and
superior…you can’t restrain human nature and curiosity…
To compare .Mobi to .name….is ludicrous,(no offense intended),
.name was/is a joke,except to the registrars that have capitalized on a worthless extension… the sale of “flowers.mobi” didn’t impress me,but sportsbook.mobi at $129,K, singles.mobi at $41,K, and just last week, stocks.mobi,$70,K and girls.mobi,$49,K…it’s not the $$, take note of (2) logical and evident factors, first, the corresponding implications of
the term/name to mobility and cell phones, and secondly, the individuals behind the purchases.
As, I said, I cannot predict the future, and have been involved with domaining for a few years, with limited success, if .Mobi does not come along the way as .com has to it’s platform, or as FM radio did to it’s
media outlets, then it may well be another extension, or another application or technology that will allow .com to seamlessly resolve to someone’s “palm”. Understand, I’m not flag-waving .Mobi(could have been any extension, “.fly” …”.go” …etc), I’m flagging the mobile web, and mobile technologies.DotMobi just happen to land first(plus, have you noticed the sequence of the “typed-in” pattern?).
By the way, I was “like” a kid, when I first got online, 7 years ago,a 42 year old kid, that is….
Here’s a question for you, and your readers/subscribers, or any domaineers,
When and What was the first domain name that you ever registered? I would be very interested to know…..
jamie
.mobi, the Betamax of the domain world.
It is going t happen Soon. Look at the Investors behind the purchases and who invested to land the dot domains i mean microsoft and google. More than enough to tell.
Add to all this the advisory group of the dot mobi. I will invest more and more in the 2007 and will meet you very soon in 2008 with my good news.
Here are some on my mobi domains:
WLD.mobi
VTL.mobi
RYL.mobi
OPL.mobi
Ogh.mobi
Qac.mobi
Qas.mobi
Hwo.mobi
Yor.mobi
Gcw.mobi
Phm.mobi
WpL.mobi
Wrr.mobi
Unv.mobi
Pkd.mobi
Okm.mobi
Pdh.mobi
Phk.mobi
Dkf.mobi
Skp.mobi
OLh.mobi
Wmk.mobi
Bnu.mobi
Kib.mobi
Kfk.mobi
Kgh.mobi
Lsk.mobi
Skw.mobi
Mko.mobi
Mkw.mobi
Mka.mobi
Skm.mobi
Cfk.mobi
Uju.mobi
GkL.mobi
Ygh.mobi
Uyt.mobi
Gka.mobi
Hgk.mobi
Rkk.mobi
Dhk.mobi
Lmu.mobi
Nmk.mobi
Pnu.mobi
Nve.mobi
Ohu.mobi
Unv.mobi
Yrp.mobi
Vja.mobi
Ayp.mobi
Yoa.mobi
Kjh.mobi
Xep.mobi
Ayt.mobi
Eoc.mobi
Ood.mobi
Aub.mobi
Jpv.mobi
Kty.mobi
Euw.mobi
Oux.mobi
Sqk.mobi
TWZ.mobi
LTE.mobi
PDZ.mobi
HDZ.mobi
XPY.mobi
RCJ.mobi
Vn1.mobi
w-tv.mobi
GWB.mobi
EWF.mobi
sdv.mobi
amn.mobi
wxw.mobi
usw.mobi
Watch more domains at http://www.MediaWebPlus.com
http://www.mediawebplus.com/main/premiumDomains.html
.mobi and the mobile internet will explode. Domainers don’t know or understand the complex
ecosystem of mobile. Sit back and let us create the mobile revolution….
DOT MOBI rules!