Is .Mobi Already Dead?

[Ron Jackson]

Is .mobi already dead? The folks putting on next month's Search Engine Strategies conference apparently think so. One high profile seminar is titled Mobile SEO: Death of the .mobi. Flak jackets anyone?

http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2008/dailyposts/07-02-08.htm

 

[whitebark]

I don't know if these people claiming that .mobi is dead are genuinely expert or are merely basing their opinions on the sale prices of .mobi domains.

Regards...jmcc

If one is too look at google trends for mobi you will see that it is flat, and has been so for many months. Yet mobile device use has exploded over the same time frame - so if mobi is the 'mobile extension' shouldn't it at least somewhat mirror the rise in the device it's meant to cater to? if mobi can't keep pace - even a little - with the devices it is meant to cater to that suggests something is rotten.

How else to say it? Mobile device use - way way up. Mobi use - flat and declining.

For those saying mobi is still too new to really catch on. Two years on the Internet is a lifetime for most products. To still be holding on for a miracle is to bet against the advancement of technology - never is that a good move in any business.

 

[cityforums.com]

If one is too look at google trends for mobi you will see that it is flat, and has been so for many months. Yet mobile device use has exploded over the same time frame - so if mobi is the 'mobile extension' shouldn't it at least somewhat mirror the rise in the device it's meant to cater to? if mobi can't keep pace - even a little - with the devices it is meant to cater to that suggests something is rotten.

How else to say it? Mobile device use - way way up. Mobi use - flat and declining.

For those saying mobi is still too new to really catch on. Two years on the Internet is a lifetime for most products. To still be holding on for a miracle is to bet against the advancement of technology - never is that a good move in any business.

Very well expressed Roy ... I would add that HUNDREDS of new TLDs won't

exactly help mobey stand out of the crowd.

 

[jmcc]

How else to say it? Mobile device use - way way up. Mobi use - flat and declining.

The danger is that people may be taking these trends out of context. The only way to really check is to survey each .mobi website and ascertain whether the site is parked, coming soon or active. Then there are the brand protection registrations. Doing that kind of analysis involves a bit more than rummaging around in Google and that's why I am very wary of these "experts" who claim that extensions are dead without providing any real proof.

For those saying mobi is still too new to really catch on. Two years on the Internet is a lifetime for most products.

It generally takes about two years for any new extension to move out of its landrush/speculative registration phase. What you will see in the next few months is a lot of highly speculative registrations (most of which were following .com speculation rules) dropping. This happens around the landrush anniversary of most new extensions and it is sometimes referred to as the junk dump. Then the development will increase. However .mobi is a niche extension and judging it by .com rules is wrong.

Regards...jmcc

 

[cityforums.com]

Figures? Do these people have figures? The only way to really check is to survey each .mobi website and ascertain whether the site is parked, coming soon or active. Then there are the brand protection registrations. Doing that kind of analysis involves a bit more than rummaging around in Google and that's why I am very wary of these "experts" who claim that extensions are dead without providing any real proof.

It generally takes about two years for any new extension to move out of its landrush/speculative registration phase. What you will see in the next few months is a lot of highly speculative registrations (most of which were following .com speculation rules) dropping. This happens around the landrush anniversary of most new extensions and it is sometimes referred to as the junk dump. Then the development will increase. However .mobi is a niche extension and judging it by .com rules is wrong.

Regards...jmcc

Did .COM have to compete for attention from domain investors and the

public with hundreds of new TLDs like mobey will have to ?

 

[jmcc]

Did .COM have to compete for attention from domain investors and the

public with hundreds of new TLDs like mobey will have to ?

Not initially. But .com now has to compete with country code domains (ccTLDs) in a lot of countries. For most countries, the default extension is either the ccTLD or .com. The .mobi extension is very much a niche extension and would, a guess represent 1% or less of the domain foot print of most countries with a vibrant ccTLD. These new gTLDs will also find it very difficult to compete with the existing .com/ccTLD markets.

Regards...jmcc

 

[cityforums.com]

Not initially. But .com now has to compete with country code domains (ccTLDs) in a lot of countries. For most countries, the default extension is either the ccTLD or .com. The .mobi extension is very much a niche extension and would, a guess represent 1% or less of the domain foot print of most countries with a vibrant ccTLD. These new gTLDs will also find it very difficult to compete with the existing .com/ccTLD markets.

Regards...jmcc

I don't think

m.paris
m.london
m.berlin

is going to have any difficulty communicating their message

 

[jmcc]

I don't think

m.paris
m.london
m.berlin

is going to have any difficulty communicating their message

Probably not. But will they cover Paris, Texas or London, Ontario or Berlin, New England?

Regards...jmcc

 

[namewaiter]

just came across an interesting poll at gomonews.com. they don't appear to be domainers more or less mobile internet enthusiasts, but they do seem to favor .mobi..

http://www.gomonews.com/poll-m-wap-mobi-or-com/

more detailed poll info found here...

http://www.vizu.com//poll-results.html?n=97448

 

[NameCharger]

If it's not dead, it's easily killed by sniffing HTTP_USER_AGENT then directing to appropriate doctype. No need to wait for the pipe dream of .mobi being integrated as the default extension in mobile web browsers.

 

[DN BROKER]

just came across an interesting poll at gomonews.com. they don't appear to be domainers more or less mobile internet enthusiasts, but they do seem to favor .mobi..

http://www.gomonews.com/poll-m-wap-mobi-or-com/

more detailed poll info found here...

http://www.vizu.com//poll-results.html?n=97448

A lot of Domainers refuse to accept 2+2 = 4

 

[labrocca]

just came across an interesting poll at gomonews.com. they don't appear to be domainers more or less mobile internet enthusiasts, but they do seem to favor .mobi..

http://www.gomonews.com/poll-m-wap-mobi-or-com/

more detailed poll info found here...

http://www.vizu.com//poll-results.html?n=97448

You're joking right? Don't appear to be domainers? Well the first guy to post a comment is in Senior Management (CEO/CTO/CFO/CM etc) of mobi.

http://dev.mobi/user/158

I see OKOK also commented.

Don't pretend that poll is regular surfers. The poll is one conducted by mobi agents. How many friends of mobi were contacted to vote?

 

[quality]

Yep .mobi is dead and only the insiders and holders of .mobi portfolios got any interest in this extension now. Its all about limiting your losses now....
best to bail out while you can still get something on a .mobi :tu: :tu:

 

[DN BROKER]

Yep .mobi is dead and only the insiders and holders of .mobi portfolios got any interest in this extension now. Its all about limiting your losses now....
best to bail out while you can still get something on a .mobi :tu: :tu:

It may be dead in your books, and it sounds like you don't own any. What difference does it make to you! If its Dead! or Alive!

:great:

 

[theparamount]

Mobi is dying... its not dead yet. Huge sites simply have no need to buy .mobi domains as most of them just put "m" as a subdomain. Goodbye Mr. .MOBI!

 

[snoop]

If one is too look at google trends for mobi you will see that it is flat, and has been so for many months. Yet mobile device use has exploded over the same time frame - so if mobi is the 'mobile extension' shouldn't it at least somewhat mirror the rise in the device it's meant to cater to? if mobi can't keep pace - even a little - with the devices it is meant to cater to that suggests something is rotten.

These google trend stats that people use to try and make a statement about extensions doesn't mean a whole lot in my view, at best it might be some kind of proxy for speculator interest (why else would people search for ".mobi" or ".com"?) At worst it is a completely useless statistic.

The staff should be free to post their opinions on .mobi many of them are far more qualified about industry trends than us part-timers. Hopefully newcomers will realise they can deploy their capital in more effective ways than wasting their cash on the crappy .mobi extension.

:kickass: :kickass: :kickass: :kickass:

Please slow down on the advice or change your sig, you are making us .mobi naysayers look bad with all those web.com subdomains. :imho:

 

[-REECE-]

This seems pretty accurate to me: http://www.google.com/trends?q=.mobi&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

Compare to .com: http://www.google.com/trends?q=.mobi,+.com&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

These google trend stats that people use to try and make a statement about extensions doesn't mean a whole lot in my view, at best it might be some kind of proxy for speculator interest (why else would people search for ".mobi" or ".com"?) At worst it is a completely useless statistic.



Please slow down on the advice or change your sig, you are making us .mobi naysayers look bad with all those web.com subdomains. :imho:

 

[snoop]

This seems pretty accurate to me: http://www.google.com/trends?q=.mobi&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

Can you explain exactly what that graph means, I don't doubt the accuracy of it but what exactly is the significance of it?

 

[-REECE-]

It's a pretty good proxy of when things are popular and when they aren't. I use Google Trends a lot when researching new trends, technology, discoveries, etc.

Looking at the .mobi data, one can see how much .mobi has fallen from it's Flowers.mobi hype.

Can you explain exactly what that graph means, I don't doubt the accuracy of it but what exactly is the significance of it?

 

[snoop]

It's a pretty good proxy of when things are popular and when they aren't. I use Google Trends a lot when researching new trends, technology, discoveries, etc.

Looking at the .mobi data, one can see how much .mobi has fallen from it's Flowers.mobi hype.

Personally I think the people typing in ".mobi" would be mainly domain speculators though, I think that is about all that could be read into these graphs apart from the spikes which was probably the times when the extension got alot of press coverage. So I think it is possibly/probably information about domain registration and interest in it rather than usage or development. Still have very big doubts about these graphs, a google trends graph for "ipods" or "george bush" has a far clearer meaning than some typing in a domain extension.

 

[DN BROKER]

Personally I think the people typing in ".mobi" would be mainly domain speculators though, I think that is about all that could be read into these graphs apart from the spikes which was probably the times when the extension got alot of press coverage. So I think it is possibly/probably information about domain registration and interest in it rather than usage or development. Still have very big doubts about these graphs, a google trends graph for "ipods" or "george bush" has a far clearer meaning than some typing in a domain extension.

Blah Blah Blah .... Stop Crying and Move On!

 

[snoop]

Blah Blah Blah .... Stop Crying and Move On!

Thanks for the intelligent commentary.

 

[mwzd]

This is fun -

http://www.google.com/trends?q=.com,+.net,+.org,+.info,+.mobi&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

http://www.google.com/trends?q=.mobi,+.pro,+.asia,+.travel,+.jobs&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

 

[labrocca]

Yeah you can see how mobi is ZERO on the chart...even compared to info. Zero is dead in my book...looks like Google's too.

.net appears to slow down but still holds a strong position

It's obvious the rise in .com isn't going to stop and has exploded since 2005.

 

[snoop]

Yeah you can see how mobi is ZERO on the chart...even compared to info. Zero is dead in my book...looks like Google's too.

.net appears to slow down but still holds a strong position

It's obvious the rise in .com isn't going to stop and has exploded since 2005.

It isn't zero though, it is about 25-30% of the .info level, personally I think when it is all said and done .mobi probably will out something comparable to .info, just another alt extension.

http://www.google.com/trends?q=+.info,+.mobi,+.biz,+.asia&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

 

[GF]

:lol:

Two of dot Mobey's major investors (Google and Microsoft) are sponsoring the event in San Jose, CA touting the event "Mobile SEO: Death of the '.mobi'"

What a ringing endorsement of the extension.