Mobi vs Com, Industry's backing!!

It will be a bad news for .mobi if there is not .mobi version of the portal. I would not worry too much at the moment.

On the other hand if that is really their web site then I hit the jackpot-- look at the WHOIS info for ovvi.com, yes that is me! Woot!

please guys. Don't compare .mobi with .com at least. .mobi is in a bubble right now and the prices are grossly inflated.
how can you compare an extension that has 15 years of mass usage and marketing behind it with a 2 year old extension?
Thats saying that Facebook.com is more valuable than GE.

Even as a large .mobi investor... I'd have to agree. Paying 1000k for a couple names that receive no traffic in an extension that is still very much speculative is a gigantic risk... Too bad someone with so much money wasn't better informed on domaining... Think about how many LLL.coms that could buy :D

sashas said:

please guys. Don't compare .mobi with .com at least. .mobi is in a bubble right now and the prices are grossly inflated.
how can you compare an extension that has 15 years of mass usage and marketing behind it with a 2 year old extension?
Thats saying that Facebook.com is more valuable than GE.

Click to expand...

Reece said:

Even as a large .mobi investor... I'd have to agree. Paying 1000k for a couple names that receive no traffic in an extension that is still very much speculative is a gigantic risk... Too bad someone with so much money wasn't better informed on domaining... Think about how many LLL.coms that could buy :D

Click to expand...

Assuming mobi does'nt knock off .com :lol:

keithmt said:

Assuming mobi does'nt knock off .com :lol:

Click to expand...

You think there are still people who believe this ?

sdsinc said:

You think there are still people who believe this ?

Click to expand...

there are

sdsinc said:

You think there are still people who believe this ?

Click to expand...

It was a joke but yes I think some still have hope :hehe:

sashas said:

there are

Click to expand...

Honestly... I can't imagine how anyone ever thought that... I like .mobi and all and do think it'll have some long term established value, but equal or greater than .com?!?

On PC's com will rule.
On mobiles.......?

That largely depends on industry, which largely depends on the .Mobi backers, which are largely......
Nokia.

Someone said that at least some of Nokia's new phones come with a Nokia-owned .mobi home page. Add ++

if "Ovi", Internet services gateway is a mobile app (you did not say, only "internet"),
then Minus ---
If it is intended for PCs, then it should be on .Com

Ovi.mobi
Registrant Name:DNStination, Inc.
Nokia does not appear to own it.

Give them at least one minus for that.

the backers are nokia, but Nokia also seems to be developing a next gen browser (nokia.com/browser)

the backers are also Microsoft, who have no .mobi website.

The major problem I see with .mobi is that all advertising will need to be overhauled to advertise the .mobi instead of the .com. This is not only very expensive, it can also lead to consumer confusion. Most people will still type in .com even when they know a site is on .mobi...

I think if .mobi is to prosper we need to see big companies backing it. The .tv extension is being backed by TNT which is a major tv station among other tv channels that have this extension. If companies are not willing to take the risk then the extension will just be all hype (my opinion). If nokia were to take the .mobi extension i could see this extension catching on with other big companies.

I like the IDEA of .mobi. Dont like where its going though.

:hi:

Here are - honest to Goodness - the last three REAL LIFE advertisements (other than "bofa.mobi" in a teeny small statement flyer insert) that I've heard (or seen) regarding the "Mobile Web", IMHO. :gl:

Link: http://www.wachovia.com/mobilebanking

Link: http://m.yahoo.com

Link: http://m.comcast.net

Link: http://www.google.com/mobile

Major industries (especially those that are internet-based), by and large, are supportive of their respective mobile evolution on their existing domains / platforms / brands (which, if you think about it for a second, makes perfect sense from a consistent branding / loyalty / trustmark perspective)! :music:
Just my two sense.

sker said:

Conventional wisdom on Industry standard says the backing of industry leaders is necessary,that will follow with the market adaptation.

anyone agree with me? or you guys beg to differ?

Click to expand...

It's definitely an interesting topic for professional discussion purposes, and I agree ... I guess time will tell ... :talk: :imho:

Happy Holidays! :santa:
-Jeff

Jeff said:

:hi:

Here are - honest to Goodness - the last three REAL LIFE advertisements (other than "bofa.mobi" in a teeny small statement flyer insert) that I've heard (or seen) regarding the "Mobile Web", IMHO. :gl:

Link: http://www.wachovia.com/mobilebanking

Link: http://m.yahoo.com

Link: http://m.comcast.net

Link: http://www.google.com/mobile

Major industries (especially those that are internet-based), by and large, are supportive of their respective mobile evolution on their existing domains / platforms / brands (which, if you think about it for a second, makes perfect sense from a consistent branding / loyalty / trustmark perspective)!

Click to expand...

...and you find this to be 'consistant branding' and not confusing to the average surfer as to what is a 'standard way' to find one's/anyone's 'mobile' site??

How retorical, ...never mind....

I cannot see a reason why anyone would even need to 'find' a company's mobile site.
All the folks I know just type in the .com address. Its Yahoo.com for them, which then takes them to the Yahoo mobile site. They don't have to worry about remembering or typing in the m.yahoo.com...just type in Yahoo.com and thats it.

Hawkeye, you'll agree that promoting the .mobi by every .com site out there will require major rebranding? For a dozen years, its been .com, and suddenly when you have a new extension being advertised, its bound to leave the average Joe confused. Not to mention that the rebranding will be excessively expensive

sdsinc said:

You think there are still people who believe this ?

Click to expand...

There absolutely are. I am not one of them

sashas said:

Hawkeye, you'll agree that promoting the .mobi by every .com site out there will require major rebranding? For a dozen years, its been .com, and suddenly when you have a new extension being advertised, its bound to leave the average Joe confused. Not to mention that the rebranding will be excessively expensive

Click to expand...

Sasha, you're hung up on the notation that every company 'has' their name in dot com, that .com is the 'only' extension, that every .com resolves to a useful site and not someone's park page, and that everyone in the world will have an iphone type of phone in the next 2 years!!! It will be a minimum of 2-4 years before a uniformed technology is 'possibly made' for all to use to surf 'normally' and at least 3-5 years before iphone type of phones are affordable to everyone!!, and not just the fortunate few who can afford them prior. And these are minimum time frames. 3 billion mobile users is a lot of high-tech phones to get out to the masses in 5 years. Using a .mobi extension is 'optional' to those that want to use it alternatively to their current extension for branding purposes, and also a viable one to newer users, and for those that want to be known as mobile sites only! Just because Ford and GM were the 'norm' and dominant leaders in selling cars in the US for 50+ years, didn't/doesn't mean that a new player(s) with the same product wouldn't come into their industry and compete hand in hand with them. Ala Toyota, Honda, BMW, etc. Too many of you are caught up in the thinking that there is a 'war' between .com and .mobi. Just not the case. Mobi is just a branding extension saying that the site is mobile compliant, and for those who don't have, or won't have, a high tech phone immediately. (..as it appears all these domainers that don't care for the extension 'will have' one, but don't, for some reason!!) Kinda like .info, was 'supposed to be' for information sites, but didn't play out that way, and is still in use.

sashas said:

Hawkeye, you'll agree that promoting the .mobi by every .com site out there will require major rebranding? For a dozen years, its been .com, and suddenly when you have a new extension being advertised, its bound to leave the average Joe confused. Not to mention that the rebranding will be excessively expensive

Click to expand...

It's a good point.

With over a year for everyone to watch the MOBI TLD develop, it's becoming clear the .MOBI has its place, but it's a TLD suited for companies that are MOBI-only. OVI by Nokia is a multi-platform social network, intended to be viewed on PC as well as mobile devices. So why would they not go with a .COM? That's what the public knows and understands already.

This is the biggest problem with MOBI that nobody wants to talk about. It's supposed to solve the problem of "where's the mobile version located?", but you can't be assured that the same company that runs Flowers.com is the same one you'll get when you type in Flowers.mobi. The consistency is not there and it's an uphill battle trying to change the public's perception about mobile sites.

I was fortunate enough to grab namepros.mobi early on to have it when I was ready to develop a site for mobile users, but what if it wasn't available? Would it be worth it to buy out the squatter when m.namepros.com is free and does the same thing? I wouldn't be surprised if Nokia does end up buying OVI.mobi from the current owner for a large sum of money. But I would be surprised if they actually promoted it instead of advertising the .COM and using browser redirection capabilities.

This is not a rant against .MOBI. MOBI has it's place and purpose, just like .ORG, .KIDS.US, and .NAME do. Smart people will continue to make money reselling .MOBI's. But the domainer's dream of it becoming the single answer for the mobile sites are fading with each passing month.

Cheers,

RJ

Hawkeye, I'm not even talking of generic .mobis right now. I'm talking of company names. Microsoft.mobi, Honda.mobi, Toyota.mobi, etc. A visitor to Microsoft will still go to the .com, simply because he wouldn't even know that a .mobi exists (and even if he knew, he would find an unresolved page).

People don't change their habits. They'll continue to type in the .com of a company name on their mobile phones. When the search engines became so prominent, everyone said that it was the death of type-in traffic. But that hasn't changed. Type-in traffic is still as strong.

Sasha, if .mobi becomes a norm standard, I guess they'll have to do the same thing when they wanted the .com version - pay for it, or sue for it! I don't have the answer for how everyone will or won't look for a company on a mobile device. I don't have the answer for how people will surf 'now' for readable and seeable sites. I don't have the answers on whether companies will use 'm.' or 'mobile.' or '/mobile' or whatever other combo one wants to come up with. I'm just a domainer who has speculated on the .mobi extension. If you need 'definite answers' on what will or won't happen in the domain world before you accept, agree, speculate etc., on any part of it, then you may need to find a tarrot card forum (or a domain blogger!), that knows those answers. I've speculated on it, like I have on any domain I've boughten, and seeing the momentum it's generated so far, both in businesses having adapted it (be it redirect or not) moreso than 'any new' extension that has come out, and seeing the sales of .mobis at current, I'm not unsatisfied with my investments. One must make their own choices on their investments, but also live with the fact that they 'had a chance' to risk it too on something that turned out better than the pundits predicited. Kinda like that LLLL.com niche. As they say - "No Guts, No Glory!"

true, Hawkeye, investing in .mobi made sense 6 months ago when you could find good names for cheap. Not now. The market is too inflated. Anyone buying .mobi names now is throwing away his money.

sashas said:

true, Hawkeye, investing in .mobi made sense 6 months ago when you could find good names for cheap. Not now. The market is too inflated. Anyone buying .mobi names now is throwing away his money.

Click to expand...

...not necessarily. I just picked up IndiaSingles.mobi, and TruckLoan(s).mobi all for under $30. I think I can 'at least' double my money on them. ..at least!

hawkeye said:

...not necessarily. I just picked up IndiaSingles.mobi, and TruckLoan(s).mobi all for under $30. I think I can 'at least' double my money on them. ..at least!

Click to expand...

I'm talking major one word names with a much bigger profit margin..something like Singles.mobi

Why?

http://www.s60.com/business/productinfo/builtinapplications/webrowser

I think that this browser says it all. Son-of-a . . .; and to think I recently added 12 more .mobis to my portfolio against my better judgment.

-RJ- said:

It's a good point.

With over a year for everyone to watch the MOBI TLD develop, it's becoming clear the .MOBI has its place, but it's a TLD suited for companies that are MOBI-only. OVI by Nokia is a multi-platform social network, intended to be viewed on PC as well as mobile devices. So why would they not go with a .COM? That's what the public knows and understands already.

RJ

Click to expand...

Very True....RJ

1. Rebranding is very expensive

2. Every mobile device need to connect to the internet....mobile is just the internet gateway, cracking that .mobi niche will surely have backfire from the .com incumbents.

3. New extensions have made some impacts ie. dot TV extension. few media companies have at least backed it and using it as their official website .... why they've been sucessful?????

because all they're trying to do is "Change their Identity" NOT "Disputing the current standard" ...

no new device,no new gateway,no new function and no new orders.... only identity have changed.

i would prefer, .com sites with multi-platform accessibility like language options in many sites..... l
V