.mobi Automatic redirects? WHAT automatic redirects?!?!

[000]

A common argument against .mobi is that, "It's not necessary because scripts at .com sites can just redirect mobile users to the mobile version of the site." But I got to wondering...where is that actually being done right now?

I randomly checked various restaurants, stores, top websites, etc, with a mobile emulator to see where redirection is actually occurring.

Failures: (meaning: either the page didn't load at all, or it was unacceptable for mobile viewing on a standard phone)

McDonalds
Wendy's
Burger King
Popeyes (my personal favorite restaurant )
KFC
Taco Bell
Pizza Hut
Papa John's
Chuckie Cheese
Walmart
Home Depot
Walgreens
JC Penney
Boscov's
Macy's
Sears
Sony
Gamestop
Goodwill
Yahoo
CNN
Microsoft
Gateway
Creative Labs
eBay
Adobe
WikiPedia
MySpace
Xanga
Bebo
Blogger
MegaUpload
Hi5
Friendster
Digg
MLB
NHL
PGA
Nascar

Successes! (looked fine on a standard phone)

AOL
MSNBC
Fox Sports
NBA
NFL
Facebook
Amazon
Flickr

....

Pretty pathetic ratio, eh? Is it really a good idea to leave it up to mobile users to guess about whether or not a .com site will display properly (especially if they pay per their amount of usage)? Look at that list of sites that do not display properly on a cell phone...many of those are top sites! What's wrong here?! Wouldn't it be better for everyone if developers adopted .mobi as a way to set apart the mobile editions of websites? When can we stop this ridiculous guessing game?

P.S. - This "study" was done fairly and I truly picked sites/stores at random. If I checked a site, it is listed above in the appropriate catagory.

 

[mykel241]

Most emulators do not allow the redirects to work. This is one reason not to test mobile site using emulators. On all my new sites I give the user the option to view which version they want. Mobile or PC. I do this for a variety of reasons including the use of new smart phones and some users use their phones as a modem via their laptop. I do this sometime with my TREO if I am not in a WIFI hotspot.

Michael

 

[Jeff]

Wouldn't it be better for everyone if developers adopted .mobi as a way to set apart the mobile editions of websites? When can we stop this ridiculous guessing game?

Yes, very good point ... and this is exactly why I've been asking about the SPECIFICS of the "2007 Consumer Awareness Campaign" of the .MOBI - directly to Developers and End users (as well as, obviously, the public)! :gl:

The questions remain ... unanswered, IMHO. :blink:
-Jeff

 

[000]

Most emulators do not allow the redirects to work. This is one reason not to test mobile site using emulators. On all my new sites I give the user the option to view which version they want. Mobile or PC. I do this for a variety of reasons including the use of new smart phones and some users use their phones as a modem via their laptop. I do this sometime with my TREO if I am not in a WIFI hotspot.

Michael

Thank you for the insight, Michael! However, the emulator that I used did send me to the mobile versions of several sites, as seen by my results. So I guess that this one works fine?

If anyone notices that a site that I listed as a failure does indeed have a redirect, please let me know and I will update my post.

Yes, very good point ... and this is exactly why I've been asking about the SPECIFICS of the "2007 Consumer Awareness Campaign" of the .MOBI - directly to Developers and End users (as well as, obviously, the public)! :gl:

The questions remain ... unanswered, IMHO. :blink:
-Jeff

True, I agree that we should all be working now to spread the word about .mobi.

 

[satsdifference.com]

Great Study!

I Love it!


I hearby grant you or some annointed person the pulitzerprize.mobi!

Thanks for the grassroots field study, it really does mean there is a conflict with .com.. Nice work!

(Please see my post also for my theory behind this, thanks.. http://www.namepros.com/dot-mobi/325135-how-do-you-see-role-com.html)

(I hearby grant my collection the nobelpeaceprize.mobi now hehe)


Enjoy your day.



Kind Regards,

Yelo

 

[000]

The Pulitzer Prize, eh? Dangit, I'm gonna have a hard time refraining from spending that $10k cash reward on .mobi's!

Thanks for the comments, Yelo.

 

[Jeff]

I have no idea what Yelo is saying half the time, but you gotta love his enthusiasm, IMHO. :music:

Note to self: Recruit Yelo when you launch the .COOLIO extension! :g: :talk: :p

See you soon.
-Jeff

 

[000]

I have no idea what Yelo is saying half the time, but you gotta love his enthusiasm, IMHO. :music:

You're not alone. I literally have to re-read all his posts about 10x before I can even begin to comprehend what he is saying. But the way he says things - he's so..convincing!

Good stuff, Yelo. Keep it up, no doubt we'll agree with whatever you say.

(By the way, Yelo, have you ever considered a career in hypnosis?) :gl:

 

[000]

By the way, isn't it interesting that the food industry is severely lacking in mobile-compatible websites, when that is one of the particularly-useful applications for the mobile web? I'm not sure that I've seen one restaurant chain with a mobile-ready site. :td:

 

[thebiffenator]

By the way, isn't it interesting that the food industry is severely lacking in mobile-compatible websites, when that is one of the particularly-useful applications for the mobile web? I'm not sure that I've seen one restaurant chain with a mobile-ready site. :td:

They could have a huge market with the food industry espicaily when the mobile bar code scan happens, imagine having coupon when you log in to Mc donalds for example and they have their mobile site up and running with a coupon code for a family meal and you go through the drive though or regular line and you save money.

one more thing the site that reffered them to it may make money :D but its a little far fetched at this date untill most companys realize the power of mobility IMO and can drive business to their place.

 

[000]

Good point, Brian! Another incredibly practical use is that it would enable travellers to locate nearby Arby's restaurants at Arbys.mobi, etc.