.mobi Secret .mobi fan spotted and revealed!!

sdsinc said:

Well not quite. My point is that .mobi is not an established extension like .com. An average .com is still worth more than its mobi counterpart.
Besides the scope of the TLD is narrower. A lot of businesses don't have a mobile site and will never have because they have no need for it.
Again, when I say mobile site it doesn't even mean a .mobi site.

Click to expand...

A truly arrogant comment to make "a lot of businesses will never have a need for a mobile site"
How ignorant a stance is that? - I did an exercise a long while back... I picked random 20 or 30 businesses - imaginery or real; one by one I found a use for a mobile site that would be relevant for that company (& you must treat the question as though it must be answered)

I tell you now, before I did it; I expected 50% or 60% to have a logical & relevant benefit from having a .mobi site..... I didn't pass on any of them, seriously - do it - you don't even need to come back & tell us what happened

Truth is that there are mulitple uses for any one business that would be well served or bettered by use of a mobile site; so to find any company or body that doesn't have a single potential use for a dotmobi is virtually impossible.

rickkumar said:

So Rick owns these as per a thread in another forum:

Flowers.mobi
JERKOFF.MOBI
creampies.mobi
lickme.mobi
morons.mobi
freephonecards.mobi
tickets.mobi

Click to expand...

Rick also owns:

Casinos.mobi
StockQuotes.mobi
Wow.mobi

+ a big Adult .mobi portfolio, I hear.



Most (if not all) of us here have invested in .mobi domains because we judge that it will be a profitable business investment - now, or in the future.


Some domain investors deal in $xx....and, some deal in $xxx,xxx,xxx. All are valid.


Lets not forget that a $10 investment in a .mobi - that you sell for $25 - is a 250% profit return....And, that's a terrific return on investment within, say, months, or a year (where else can you do that?)...

A profit is a profit - and that's the (only) real point of doing business.


I hear Rick Schwartz simply saying that - from all he knows - from his experience - his guess is that .mobi (and the mobile web) is likely to be pretty big....Maybe the No 2 extension to .com.

I hear him say that - in his (personal) investment strategy - he's interested in a small number of key .mobi words...because his guess is that - if his bet is right - these keywords will be worth a LOT of money one day....Because of his past activity, I (we) assume he means serious $xxx,xxx ++.


So, an experienced domainer is placing his bets on .mobi, in his own way, on his own strategy...


I'd say it'd be wise to note Rick's past experience - tuck his opinion away at the back of the mind - and, ignore the numbers he deals in...

And...

...Never forget the $25 that is a 250% return, on a $10 .mobi investment...That's great business...


...I'd counsel paying close attention to mobile web news - and trends & developments - and the opinions of those around us that you respect...


...and then follow your own instincts - taking profits along the way, when you can - whatever its size.


....Your own judgement & instincts will be as good a guide as anyone else's - even the 'famous' ones...

.

DomainTalker said:

Rick also owns:

Casinos.mobi
StockQuotes.mobi
Wow.mobi

+ a big Adult .mobi portfolio, I hear.



Most (if not all) of us here have invested in .mobi domains because we judge that it will be a profitable business investment - now, or in the future.


Some domain investors deal in $xx....and, some deal in $xxx,xxx,xxx. All are valid.


Lets not forget that a $10 investment in a .mobi - that you sell for $25 - is a 250% profit return....And, that's a terrific return on investment within, say, months, or a year (where else can you do that?)...

A profit is a profit - and that's the (only) real point of doing business.


I hear Rick Schwartz simply saying that - from all he knows - from his experience - his guess is that .mobi (and the mobile web) is likely to be pretty big....Maybe the No 2 extension to .com.

I hear him say that - in his (personal) investment strategy - he's interested in a small number of key .mobi words...because his guess is that - if his bet is right - these keywords will be worth a LOT of money one day....Because of his past activity, I (we) assume he means serious $xxx,xxx ++.


So, an experienced domainer is placing his bets on .mobi, in his own way, on his own strategy...


I'd say it'd be wise to note Rick's past experience - tuck his opinion away at the back of the mind - and, ignore the numbers he deals in...

And...

...Never forget the $25 that is a 250% return, on a $10 .mobi investment...That's great business...


...I'd counsel paying close attention to mobile web news - and trends & developments - and the opinions of those around us that you respect...


...and then follow your own instincts - taking profits along the way, when you can - whatever its size.


....Your own judgement & instincts will be as good a guide as anyone else's - even the 'famous' ones...

.

Click to expand...

:sold:

Selling a MOBI for $25 is not a 250% return if it takes you two years to do so.

Selling a MOBI for $25 is not a 250% return if the other three you registered are unsaleable.

The TLD is not going to be what makes or breaks your investment. You can invest wisely or foolishly in every namespace. After all, over 90% of the currently registered .COM's would be considered worthless on the resale market.

As in any extension domain, buy smart and you'll be fine.

sdsinc said:

I have a good command of CSS and content negotiation techniques.
For that very reason I would rather use browser detection than dilute my .com branding.
mobi does nothing that .com cannot.

OK one example: I have a client that sells expensive testing equipment, they usually work on GSA schedule and deal with 5-9 federal/state bureaucrats. The average order is 35K. Really it's not the kind of business that would be conducted on a mobile site/on the move.
My client will never bother with a mobile website. It would be like eskimos purchasing fridges :]

Many many sites will never go mobile or not anytime soon because their business model does not fit mobile usage.
Now if I had say 10% mobile visitors to my site then clearly I would do something to optimise their experience it while staying in .com. But until a critical mass is reached I would have other priorities like translating my sites to Spanish for example.
I'm not afraid of missing out on mobi because mobile sites will continue to exist under .com and other extensions.

Click to expand...

Yes & aren't you the same person who said that no one will ever need a website because we have a phone book & local newspaper.
Or maybee you might be the person who didn't jump in the mobi landrush & wish they did so in that case SOUR GRAPES>

Listen all comments aside.If you are going to make a stand that a mobi site is not nessesary or will never take off than I think you should tell all the Large Cap companies that are jumping in on the Mobi bandwagon that they made a mistake investing in a mobile website. IMHO

Well . after all is said I only have one other thing to Say ,, :sold: :sold: :sold: on Mobi
:sold: :sold: :sold:

-RJ- said:

Selling a MOBI for $25 is not a 250% return if it takes you two years to do so.

Selling a MOBI for $25 is not a 250% return if the other three you registered are unsaleable.

The TLD is not going to be what makes or breaks your investment. You can invest wisely or foolishly in every namespace. After all, over 90% of the currently registered .COM's would be considered worthless on the resale market.

As in any extension domain, buy smart and you'll be fine.

Click to expand...

RJ - As a moderator I had expected better mathematics from you...

May I just point out that $25 from a $10 domain is actually 150% profit

250% would require a selling price of $35 on a $10 domain

(But I understand & agree with your point nonetheless. Most domainers are like gamblers... they spend $200 a week on names & once a month they sell a name for $1,000 & think they're rich

As for valuations.... there must be many millions of worthless domains registered..... some serve a purpose a pure address - a number that never gets seen becuase it's links come from another site so their value is of no concern to the operator of any 'live' sites; the domain value only really matters when you're a buyer or seller (usually a dealer) so what does it matter if one domainer sells 50 names a week at $15 average profit.... if that's what makes them happy so be it.. or if they sell two per annum for 6 figures sums.. clearly the latter is getting it right but that doesn't mean their is no role for the small timer; afterall, it's them that do 95% of the trade in domains (by transaction numbers) so without them the market could freeze up!

-RJ- said:

Selling a MOBI for $25 is not a 250% return if it takes you two years to do so.

Click to expand...

It's not? (ignoring the fact that $25 would actually be a $150% return)
It wouldn't be an annual return of 250%, but it's still a 250% return. At least in securities investing we calculate capital gains that way.

-RJ- said:

Selling a MOBI for $25 is not a 250% return if the other three you registered are unsaleable.

Click to expand...

This I agree with. Yielding a 250% return on one name is not a 250% return on your .mobi investment.

250% was DomainTalker's number, not mine.

My point was to be smart when investing your money. DT's post made it sound like every MOBI was worth something now, but the TLD isn't everything. If the mere act of registering any .MOBI made it automatically worth $25, then we'd all be getting rich from MOBI. Of course that isn't the case.

Rick made two very calculated purchases. Read his blog post again, there's more to learn from it than simply "Rick likes MOBI".

RJ

Now Now !! Is this a Math class or a discussion

gou said:

-RJ- said:

Selling a MOBI for $25 is not a 250% return if it takes you two years to do so.

Click to expand...

It's not? (ignoring the fact that $25 would actually be a $150% return)

Click to expand...

Maybe it is if you can convince your registrar to give you free renewals. Mine isn't going for it yet, no matter how many times I say "please". :]

-RJ- said:

Maybe it is if you can convince your registrar to give you free renewals. Mine isn't going for it yet, no matter how many times I say "please". :]

Click to expand...

..but did you say 'pretty' please?? :p

-RJ- said:

Maybe it is if you can convince your registrar to give you free renewals. Mine isn't going for it yet, no matter how many times I say "please". :]

Click to expand...

Gotcha.

newdomainer.mobi said:

A truly arrogant comment to make "a lot of businesses will never have a need for a mobile site"
How ignorant a stance is that? - I did an exercise a long while back... I picked random 20 or 30 businesses - imaginery or real; one by one I found a use for a mobile site that would be relevant for that company (& you must treat the question as though it must be answered)

Click to expand...

Bottom line: the market will decide the fate of the extension... not domainers.
To me arrogance = ignoring the actual needs of clients.
Just because you think mobi is the big thing doesnt' mean end users are massively jumping on the bandwagon.

tophatter said:

Yes & aren't you the same person who said that no one will ever need a website because we have a phone book & local newspaper.
Or maybee you might be the person who didn't jump in the mobi landrush & wish they did so in that case SOUR GRAPES>

Click to expand...

Care to share your sources ? I have been involved with Internet development since the early days. It's not like I am an Internet newbie :hehe:
Rick has a strategy of his own and can afford to waste $$$,$$$ on a gamble. Most domainers cannot. I would listen to his advice anyway but take it with a pinch of salt.
Cheers %%-

RJ said:

DT's post made it sound like every MOBI was worth something now

Click to expand...

No, RJ, of course I wasn't suggesting that every hand regged $10 .mobi would sell for $25...now, or at any time....lol

But, I was suggesting that even small amounts of profit - when you can get it - is still real profit. It doesn't have to be mega amounts every time to make your business valuable.


Nor, was I saying, of course, that an individual sale of that relativity would mark the average return on investment across your portfolio...(if you could pull that off, we'd all be very rich, very quick...Domaining is easy - but, perhaps, not quite that easy...)


I was only suggesting perspective...and, a cool head....in approaching info like Rick's opinion.....His opinion is useful to know...and may be encouraging....but that we should adapt it to our own strategy, and our own knowledge & instincts.

gou said:

It wouldn't be an annual return of 250%, but it's still a 250% return. At least in securities investing we calculate capital gains that way.

Click to expand...

Exactly, gou....

Just to be precise:

...A 250% return on investment (which is what I was saying)....but, a 150% net profit on the investment...

So, we're all correct....just needed defining the terms....:D

.

sdsinc said:

... OK one example: I have a client that sells expensive testing equipment, they usually work on GSA schedule and deal with 5-9 federal/state bureaucrats. The average order is 35K. Really it's not the kind of business that would be conducted on a mobile site/on the move.
My client will never bother with a mobile website. It would be like eskimos purchasing fridges :]

Many many sites will never go mobile or not anytime soon because their business model does not fit mobile usage.
Now if I had say 10% mobile visitors to my site then clearly I would do something to optimise their experience it while staying in .com. But until a critical mass is reached I would have other priorities like translating my sites to Spanish for example.
I'm not afraid of missing out on mobi because mobile sites will continue to exist under .com and other extensions.

Click to expand...

Then your client's marketing department will be missing out on another selling tool. All the tech sales guys have been carrying laptops for the last ten years. I forsee a segment of them replacing or at the very east supplementing their laptop with a smart phone which they will ALWAYS have with them anyway. That is the point - a mobile device is ALWAYS with you and therefore mobile websites or subdirectories on a main PC website can be very useful for instant information or as a sales tool.

The other thing that I have used before is the billboard analogy. Every single website (.mobi or otherwise) does NOT have to actually SELL something or take orders on it. You do not drive by a billboard, stop, click on it and buy what you see displayed. It is just ONE more marketing tool. So are magazine ads, TV commercials, and promotional items handed out at trade shows and other events by companies, etc.

The business marketing model for ALL COMPANIES involves getting information in front of potential customers as often as possible - via MANY different means. And NOW that can be via MOBILE devices too. Someone may not buy today or tomorrow, but with the good, useful, and appealing product presentations over time they may be influenced or "sold" in part because of what they saw on a company's website - full sized or mobisized.

Many, many large companies have websites in .com AND several ccTLDs or gTLDs. They are not "diluting" their brands by doing so, they are targeting different market segments. Most of the real businesses in the world have not branded themselves as "something.com" - the purely online ones have sure - but not most .

There are many different industries and types of businesses out there. And different ways of marketing and supporting ones customers and clients. Having a mobile component just gives your business another way of finding, convincing, or satisfying customers.

Dot mobi has and is positioning itself to be part of that MOBILE buildout - to become synonymous with the mobile web is the lofty goal. Aim high and catch as much as you can along the way. Of course time will tell if it catches on and to what extent. And - OF COURSE - not all .mobi names will be "worth something" down the road.

One should be as discerning with choosing .mobi names as you should be with ANY extension. It has been very evident though that those who have decided not to "like" .mobi for THEIR own reasons, sure do cut all the other extensions alot more slack.
.
.

acc said:

Then your client's marketing department will be missing out on another selling tool. All the tech sales guys have been carrying laptops for the last ten years. I forsee a segment of them replacing or at the very east supplementing their laptop with a smart phone which they will ALWAYS have with them anyway. That is the point - a mobile device is ALWAYS with you and therefore mobile websites or subdirectories on a main PC website can be very useful for instant information or as a sales tool.

The other thing that I have used before is the billboard analogy. Every single website (.mobi or otherwise) does NOT have to actually SELL something or take orders on it. You do not drive by a billboard, stop, click on it and buy what you see displayed. It is just ONE more marketing tool. So are magazine ads, TV commercials, and promotional items handed out at trade shows and other events by companies, etc.

The business marketing model for ALL COMPANIES involves getting information in front of potential customers as often as possible - via MANY different means. And NOW that can be via MOBILE devices too. Someone may not buy today or tomorrow, but with the good, useful, and appealing product presentations over time they may be influenced or "sold" in part because of what they saw on a company's website - full sized or mobisized.

Many, many large companies have websites in .com AND several ccTLDs or gTLDs. They are not "diluting" their brands by doing so, they are targeting different market segments. Most of the real businesses in the world have not branded themselves as "something.com" - the purely online ones have sure - but not most .

There are many different industries and types of businesses out there. And different ways of marketing and supporting ones customers and clients. Having a mobile component just gives your business another way of finding, convincing, or satisfying customers.

Dot mobi has and is positioning itself to be part of that MOBILE buildout - to become synonymous with the mobile web is the lofty goal. Aim high and catch as much as you can along the way. Of course time will tell if it catches on and to what extent. And - OF COURSE - not all .mobi names will be "worth something" down the road.

One should be as discerning with choosing .mobi names as you should be with ANY extension. It has been very evident though that those who have decided not to "like" .mobi for THEIR own reasons, sure do cut all the other extensions alot more slack.
.
.

Click to expand...

Acc, you're asking that people think outside the box, and intuitively. Got to keep in mind that PPC, Parking, and 'They don't do it that way now' vision, is the norm for the myopic masses of most domainers. Remember, there were those that said no one would, or want to, carry a pc around with them. Then came a thing called the laptop. For many the world will always be flat.

Yes !! Flat it is & how dare u say otherwise. Wise words of the sceptics !!

sdsinc said:

Bottom line: the market will decide the fate of the extension... not domainers.
To me arrogance = ignoring the actual needs of clients.
Just because you think mobi is the big thing doesnt' mean end users are massively jumping on the bandwagon.
Care to share your sources ? I have been involved with Internet development since the early days. It's not like I am an Internet newbie :hehe:
Rick has a strategy of his own and can afford to waste $$$,$$$ on a gamble. Most domainers cannot. I would listen to his advice anyway but take it with a pinch of salt.
Cheers %%-

Click to expand...

Take a really hard look at the many thousands of crappy names that drop in EVERY extension EVERY single day. And look at all the questionable "brandable" .coms/.anything that fill the sales threads at all the forums and other venues. How many potential real end users are there for some of those names? Very few. Earlier in this thread someone stated that the majority of .mobi names were "quasi useless". It is NOT just a .mobi domainer thing - it is a domainer / human brain thing to register just about anything that "seems" good at the moment.
Looking at the potential utility of the domains for end users, there are MILLIONS more of .com names that are far worse than many of the bad .mobi names that only number in the tens or hundreds of thousands. Multiply out those figures and see where the domainer dollars are going down the drain the fastest.

Rick S. has the same .com experience as many of his contemporaries but has split ranks with many as far as .mobi goes. He sees opportunity, many of the others do not or refuse to look for it. (Or are being stealthy about it)

The top eshelon of names (which he is talking about) in ANY extension are but a small part of the market. As others have stated, there are different sales levels (i.e., price points) and any of them can be profitable and enjoyable if approached intelligently. Dot mobi is no exception. One can be successful in many extensions as long as they are smart about it. Junk is junk in every extension (but except for in .com in some minds).

Beyond the PPC parked site or affiliate program usage, my perspective is to look at a name and think if and how real businesses could possibly use it as a marketing tool, either as a main website or one of a series of websites. A direct selling site or just a "billboard", it can be valuable either way. And then I look at how many of those businesses are out there in the language of the term. For my money, generic terms with good search stats do that and at least provide some basis for applying long term value to a name.

Dot mobi came along, targeting a potentially huge market segment. It was approved as a "gTLD" and is here to stay. Even if some don't want to admit it. That's fine, they can just go about THEIR domaining business and with sincere best wishes for their success. But give those of us who see the potential in the future of .mobi the same courtesies and respect and leeway to make our decisions for part of our domain portfolios.

Many have and are making these decisions - not because of Rick's "blessing" for the top ten .mobis - but because WE see the big picture and think that .mobi COULD be a part of it. A nice slice of the ever expanding pie.
.

sdsinc said:

.....
Many many sites will never go mobile or not anytime soon because their business model does not fit mobile usage
......

Click to expand...

A quote from the first page, no doubt out of context, but it will serve because it so clearly points out what is being missed.

The mobile web is a new medium. It is not a watered down PC. It is something else, with quite different potential.

Look at the list of the most profitable websites. Amazon, Google, Ebay -- these companies did not exist before the internet. Mobile internet will include the old players, for a while, but in ten years I expect only a few of them will have top rank in mobile profits.

Many new sites will have mobile business models, ideas impracticial or un-thought-of on PCs and laptops. Mobile is a different game, and while the old-time PC players will try to move in, some with m.whatever.com, some with mobi, those guys make little difference in the long run. The Mobile web will incubate new business forms - lots and lots of them. These new businesses will need domains, and to reflect their mobile brand --- they will want .mobi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rick mentioned that he had bought a group of NNN.mobis in his blog a while ago, don't know if he still has them.

Here's a food for thought question.
How would the mobile web be if mTLD was to never exist?

I think it's way to early to tell whether .mobi will be a success or not.
There are things working against the purpose of .mobi at the moment.
1) Newer, and ever improving cell phone
2) Advancement in browser tech like opera mini
3) Sites like mowser.com, phonifier.com, google mobifier
4) Redirection to mobile version like m.somewebpage.com
5) Wifi / Reduction in cost of data plan for wireless providers

Some of these things never existed or was still in its early phase when .mobi first came out.
There was a lot of improvement and development over 1-2 years in regards in regards to mobile devices and software.

I had mentioned this in another post, but .mobi could have be an extreme success if there was something called ".mobi only special mobile internet" where none of the extensions worked but .mobi. However, we are just surfing same old regular internet on a mobile device (restricted via screen size and browser technology - this is improving).

I think we have to see and accept both pros and cons and come up with a solution to this ever growing problems that are threatening the purpose of .mobi and to protect our investment.

That is good food for thought.

The fact of the matter is MOBI is not needed at all. Had it not even existed, the mobile web would still exist and be thriving today. Not even the staunchest supporter of mTLD can deny that. And from a purely technical standpoint, m.Dot makes more sense because it eliminates the need for website owners to purchase a second domain.

The ONLY value MOBI has over other TLDs is as a marketing tool for websites to say "We're mobile!"

The benefit MOBI has is that it says "We're mobile!" right there in the TLD. It's a pretty clear message too compared to other TLDs. .COM says vaguely "We're online!" That was an important message for companies to promote themselves as circa 1999 and is still being done today. .ORG kind of hints at you to "Take us seriously!" because people are used to seeing non-profits, hospitals, groups, etc use it. And so forth and so on with other TLDs. With .MOBI, a visitor should know what to expect and therein lies the value.

And I'm not slagging on MOBI by saying this either. Marketing value cannot be dismissed. It's marketing value that causes premium .COM's to sell for six or seven figures when from a "purely technical standpoint" a $10 reg fee domain resolves exactly the same.

And I completely disagree that .MOBI would have been a extreme success had it separated itself from the rest of the Internet in favor of a separate mobi-only space. That would have doomed this TLD from the start. No one wants to surf the mobile Innernette. Hehe..

Nightio,

RJ

mrdomainman said:

Here's a food for thought question.
How would the mobile web be if mTLD was to never exist?

I think it's way to early to tell whether .mobi will be a success or not.
There are things working against the purpose of .mobi at the moment.
1) Newer, and ever improving cell phone
2) Advancement in browser tech like opera mini
3) Sites like mowser.com, phonifier.com, google mobifier
4) Redirection to mobile version like m.somewebpage.com
5) Wifi / Reduction in cost of data plan for wireless providers

Some of these things never existed or was still in its early phase when .mobi first came out.
There was a lot of improvement and development over 1-2 years in regards in regards to mobile devices and software.

I had mentioned this in another post, but .mobi could have be an extreme success if there was something called ".mobi only special mobile internet" where none of the extensions worked but .mobi. However, we are just surfing same old regular internet on a mobile device (restricted via screen size and browser technology - this is improving).

I think we have to see and accept both pros and cons and come up with a solution to this ever growing problems that are threatening the purpose of .mobi and to protect our investment.

Click to expand...

But there is one very important PLUS for .mobi. There are companies out there which cannot go online with a .COM domain simply because the .com is already taken. .Mobi gives them a opportunity to get a website with the potential to be just as well known an extension as .com especially now that the mobile internet is about to take off. It's all very well for companies who already own a .com to go the way of M. but .mobi is the alternative for those who dont have a .Com

-RJ- said:

.... The benefit MOBI has is that it says "We're mobile!" right there in the TLD. It's a pretty clear message too compared to other TLDs. .COM says vaguely "We're online!" That was an important message for companies to promote themselves as circa 1999 and is still being done today. .ORG kind of hints at you to "Take us seriously!" because people are used to seeing non-profits, hospitals, groups, etc use it. And so forth and so on with other TLDs. With .MOBI, a visitor should know what to expect and therein lies the value.

And I'm not slagging on MOBI by saying this either. Marketing value cannot be dismissed. It's marketing value that causes premium .COM's to sell for six or seven figures when from a "purely technical standpoint" a $10 reg fee domain resolves exactly the same.

......RJ

Click to expand...

Those are very good points ...

Right from the outset the .mobi extension had a DEFINED PURPOSE - to say "I AM MOBILE DERVICE FRIENDLY". It can stay true to that purpose AND can also contain full PC content as well - that is very important.

Consider other TLDs that have been -for lack of a better word- "hijacked" from their original purpose and are being "branded" or otherwise used successfully (e.g., parking) to varying extents. Every single .TV .or .LA or .CC "domainer" owner and many .ORG domainer owners should understand this point - those extensions are being used and adopted for something other than their original reason for being. Yet that is accepted by the domainer community in general and life goes on. You don't see fellow domainers spending so much time bashing those extensions.

Consider and contrast that with .mobi which is being branded as designed and used for what it ACTUALLY IS - a mobile device friendly domain extension. So the risk for owning .mobi domains comes down to this :

- At the VERY BEST, .mobi is accepted by mobile internet users as intended and becomes a successful and widely used domain extension. ... or ...

- At the VERY LEAST, .mobi is just another extension and can be used as such.: "insertkeyword(s)here.mobi" can be used just like "insertkeyword(s)here.com" or "insertkeyword(s)here.anyccTLD"

Plan A has its obvious rewards but those with "keyword(s)".mobi names could live with and still profit from the Plan B scenario. That's a risk worth taking, IMHO.

Many dot-mobi supporters do not need any "domain royalty" to explain that concept to us. The proof is that MANY businesses registered their .mobi names during the sunrise period and MANY domainers pre-registered .mobi names and registered more during .mobi landrush. That was all way BEFORE the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. auction where flowers.mobi and other names were sold. The recognition of potential of the .mobi domain extension PREDATES the "kings" declaration by example.

.

acc said:

...So the risk for owning .mobi domains comes down to this :

- At the VERY BEST, .mobi is accepted by mobile internet users as intended and becomes a successful and widely used domain extension. ... or ...

- At the VERY LEAST, .mobi is just another extension and can be used as such.: "insertkeyword(s)here.mobi" can be used just like "insertkeyword(s)here.com" or "insertkeyword(s)here.anyccTLD"

Plan A has its obvious rewards but those with "keyword(s)".mobi names could live with and still profit from the Plan B scenario. That's a risk worth taking, IMHO.

Many dot-mobi supporters do not need any "domain royalty" to explain that concept to us. ...

Click to expand...

And that is about as simple and plain as it gets! It is just an extension folks. Invest or don't. Insulting those that do, or don't, is just plain childish and purposeless.

Nice post acc. Rep to ya.

acc said:

Take a really hard look at the many thousands of crappy names that drop in EVERY extension EVERY single day. And look at all the questionable "brandable" .coms/.anything that fill the sales threads at all the forums and other venues. How many potential real end users are there for some of those names? Very few. Earlier in this thread someone stated that the majority of .mobi names were "quasi useless". It is NOT just a .mobi domainer thing - it is a domainer / human brain thing to register just about anything that "seems" good at the moment.

Click to expand...

I hear ya. Clearly, bad names abound in every extension. But at least when a new extension launches you have the opportunity to pick premium keywords (aside from those hoarded by mtld of course ).

I've not seen a lot of mobi here that would qualify as premium, instead lots of so-called brandable, 3-worders and other less than average that wouldn't sell in .com. Hence my feeling that domainers don't get "it".

If you read carefully you will notice that I'm not always bashing the extension just for the sake of it, instead I invite the players to cast a more critical look at their picks.
It is sad, because I would rather see a domainer prosper in an extension I dislike, than waste his money on names that will be dropped.