.mobi .mobi dead or .mobi on NP dead ?

[tony_np]

I visited here every day.But seems no more news here.

.mobi dead or .mobi on NP dead ?

 

[dotcomisdead]

I hear what you say... I am simply trying to educate these poor souls.. :lol:

I shall skedaddle myself...

Toodle pip

dotcomisdead - There are diehard anti-mobi domainers. No matter how you explain anything they will spin it negatively against .mobi.

Re: the $10,000 single LLL.com vs. $10k worth of .mobi regs. I get your point loud and clear even if some can't.

All domain investing is speculative. Even the "safest" domainer trading cards - LLL.com - took a big hit and tanked to under $3k each for a while. And to see the fallicy of "just .com domaining" even more clearly look at the "little sisters" - the LLLL.coms. Reece's signature says it all ... "Under 500 LLLL.coms left. Only $1.50 per if you buy all."

$1.50 each for LLLL.coms? Say, weren't the next big safest .com domainer investment all locked at about $40-$50 each just last fall? Can't go wrong with dot com ... right .... That same $$$ could have been invested in pure generic .mobi names that have REAL WORLD meaning and straight forward development potential instead of being domainer trading cards.

Back to the OP's question ... the answer is that it is NP, not the extension although this thread is reviving the discussion here at NP. Dot mobi domaining is active as others mentioned. Lively, friendly, substantive discussion and real development is taking place elsewhere. Somewhere without the need to constantly justify the extension to those who either refuse to admit there is good potential to this new extension or those who just make sport of arguing. We all know that long story.

That's my answer. Now I'm just gonna skedaddle.:notme:

---------- Post added at 01:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:47 PM ----------

Ask the market? It has peaked. It is a bit like the Nasdaq, how could it have peaked 9 years ago when the Internet has grown so much? The answer is people get well ahead of reality with valuations.



You'd hope so given the risk levels involved with it.

Come now... it's 2009 and you claim the dotmobi market has peaked? You'll be suggesting that the automobile industry peaked in the 1950's next....


Oh.. I guess it did in the USA, it's been downhill ever since for the US metal bashers... but the Japanese & Europeans took over that mantle... look further afield, believe me; America is only the centre of the universe in the movies!

I digress... the global dotmobi market will (imho) peak sometime between 2012 to 2014 before maturing as has the dotcom market.. with it's ups & downs as we are witnessing now..

Tell me in 2015 that the market peaked in 2007 and we might have the supporting evidence to back up your statement... (but I doubt it) But to say that now is far too soon AND don't you know it!

Toodle Pip

 

[Kate]

Today I received that mail from one of the European banks I use:

PS: they have their .mobi too and it's dead.

Toodle pip™

 

[scandiman]

Today I received that mail from one of the European banks I use:

PS: they have their .mobi too and it's dead.

Toodle pip™

Thanks for sharing. We'll continue to see multiple approaches by existing PC websites to provide mobile content, no single method has a lock.

Where .mobi can make more sense than the alternatives is for new players focused only on the mobile market. Great keywords in .mobi can be had for a fraction of their .com counterparts (assuming they're available at all) and are perfectly suited for the mobile web entrepreneur.

 

[gr8trfoo]

. That same $$$ could have been invested in pure generic .mobi names that have REAL WORLD meaning and straight forward development potential instead of being domainer trading cards.

But the trouble is to make "mobi" mean anything. It still has virtually zero mindshare outside of domaining circles. It might as well be .cc, .tk, or anything else that no one recognizes as inherently meaningful. Of course .mobi has a better chance than those of becoming meaningful but its going to be a long and expensive road. A .mobi button on Nokia's phones would have made a big difference.

As for the state of the .mobi market its a near perfect textbook example of an irrational bubble. A lot of .mobi buyers mistakenly followed Rick Schwartz' lead and the market blew up and now both reality and a serious economic downturn have set in. Fact is Rick only bought flowers.mobi because he knew that people from 800-FLOWERS were in attendence specifically because of that name being offered. No one can accuse him of not being able to smell an opportunity. Pinky Brand was a great salesman and by his efforts alone .mobi was recognized and would have moped along more or less like .info. Now its hard to say if its long-term prospects arnt worse because of the huge runup and the aftermath.

BTW, I bought my 1st .mobi about 6 months ago. A nice adult-related for 40 bucks. Picked us a couple of LLLs on the cheap right after that but now I'm holding steady.

 

[snoop]

All domain investing is speculative. Even the "safest" domainer trading cards - LLL.com - took a big hit and tanked to under $3k each for a while. And to see the fallicy of "just .com domaining" even more clearly look at the "little sisters" - the LLLL.coms. Reece's signature says it all ... "Under 500 LLLL.coms left. Only $1.50 per if you buy all."

Personally I would call low quality LLL.com domains speculative names. You say they are the "safest" domainer trading cards which I'd probably agree with, but that is all they are, trading cards, not business domains.

Even so you can see the difference, LLL.com on the low end dropped from $7600 to $3000 a 60% fall. LLL.mobi on the low end went from $200 to $0, a 100% fall.

$1.50 each for LLLL.coms? Say, weren't the next big safest .com domainer investment all locked at about $40-$50 each just last fall?

This is not true, a lot of people laughed at those names, they were regarded by many as a bubble much like .mobi. Of course some thought they'd shoot for the sky, that is how bubbles come about.

Can't go wrong with dot com ... right .... That same $$$ could have been invested in pure generic .mobi names that have REAL WORLD meaning and straight forward development potential instead of being domainer trading cards.

You still would have lost most of your money.

Dot mobi domaining is active as others mentioned.

At the end of the day prices do not lie, people can see just how "active" the .mobi space is.

---------- Post added at 03:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:33 PM ----------

Tell me in 2015 that the market peaked in 2007 and we might have the supporting evidence to back up your statement... (but I doubt it) But to say that now is far too soon AND don't you know it!

Toodle Pip

I make no real predictions for the future other than that I think .mobi will always be regarded as an "alt tld" for when better alternatives are gone. The fact is the .mobi market is down 90-100% from its high point, that obviously it has "peaked". Like I said most people are wrong about future predictions, me included, that is why I try not to make them and focus on what makes money here and now and that isn't speculation in .mobi names.

Secondly what is the chance of you still posting in this forum in 2015 anyway? If .mobi is still a bomb and .com still isn't dead then I'm especially sure you won't be around.

 

[-REECE-]

I don't think anyone thought LLLL.coms were anywhere near the safest investments, including people like me who invested in them. The low end LLLL.coms actually have a lot in common with .mobi -- they both have very high holding costs and they both lost about 98% of their original value.

If someone had $5000 they wanted to invest in domains, I'd tell them to avoid .mobi at all costs. If they had 500k to invest, putting 5k into .mobi isn't really going to negatively impact their ROI in any significant way. Putting a little money in .mobi is like putting a little money in one of those collapsed bank stocks -- ten years from now looking back, it may have been a great deal or ten years from now you might have lost everything. Like Snoop has said many times, the bad thing about cheap domains is that you can lose a whole lot more than you initially invested over time because those renewal fees keep on coming year after year.

Like LLLL.coms, I would put .mobi into 2 different risk categories -- the people owning $10 domains and the people owning $100+ domains. Obviously the cheaper the domain, the higher the risk.

And for the record, those aren't my domains. I sold almost all my LLLL.coms for $35+ per and am selling 2800 (500ish left) on a broker contract.

 

[snoop]

The low end LLLL.coms actually have a lot in common with .mobi -- they both have very high holding costs and they both lost about 98% of their original value.

Yes, I think this is a very accurate statement. .mobi, LLLL.com (esp low end) and I would also say .tv (esp premiums) are the three main areas that were really hyped around 2006-2007 and end out losing most of their value. The holding cost issue is the thing all 3 have in common.

 

[acc]

Actually .mobi is not dead. It has a sustained level of new registrations each month and now it has started to grow again. Domaining is not the sole method of evaluating an extension.
Regards...jmcc

Bravo jmcc for a always bringing a dose of reality.

With a real word .mobi name you can ALWAYS make use of it now or in the future. You can put BOTH mobile and full PC content on it. Whether you bought REAL WORD .mobis at landrush for $60 or during the last drop cycle those are way better bets in my opinion than the hundreds of thousands of pure domainer trading cards

Compare that to the domainer trading cards whether it's LLLL, LLLLL, CVCVCVCV, NN-NN, and "brandable" stuff. The LLLL and CVCVCVCC domainer craze is still going and it spills over from .com and .net. You have more domainers constantly churning that stuff and in total throwing more money at it than at .mobi names.


@finster - You can not compare .mobi to .cc, .tk, ws, or anything like that. It is NOT a forced-rebranded ccTLD. >> .mobi is targeted for the mobile market, something NO other domain extension has going for it. .TV is a minor limted-success rebranded ccTLD. You do see them in use. But for my tastes the high premium annual renewal fees are not worth paying. Some who hold the very best names can find it an appropriate risk. Other lesser names maybe but only IF you are planning on developing them out.

All new TLDs when introduced are somewhat akin to company IPOs. All the attention and yes some hype drive prices skyward right at the start. Prices com back down to earth, mellow for a while, and then start to rise IF the "company" can show real future value.


Dot mobi hit the blocks during the height of the domain market and global economic cycle. But many open-minded domainers preregistered and regged names BEFORE the TRAFFIC show containing flowers.mobi. THAT action at TRAFFIC had NOTHING to do with many .mobi investors' original plans to invest/speculate in .mobi in Aug/Sept 2006. Skeptics and naysayers conveniently forget some facts.


Also, for all the bellyaching domainers do about the perceived shortcomings of dotMobi, they are a VERY active organization doing more to build their brand and legacy than any other registry. Long term business plans do not match the flipper mentality of 95% of domainers.


All the LLL.mobis are bought up again now so the minimum is above "$0". However, I do not believe in ANY LLL buyout for ANY extension. Because there are too few POTENTIAL real-world buyers for those several thousand bad letter combination acronyms. There's probably a couple thousand poor LLL.coms that will likely always remain just domainer trading cards. It's been 20 years and they're still unwanted by end users.


In Sep/Oct 2006 or Dec/Jan 2008 >> ALL << domainers had the same opportunity to acquire MANY nice, pure generic term and high quality LLL .mobi names for $60, or under $100 each,

The naysayers (for what ever their reason) and CNO-statist, PPC-minded "experts" had and have the same opportunity to domain with the rest of us who do hold some or many .mobi names. They choose not to. That's fine. But to rule as lords over others who do not share their limited view of the domaining world is


Essentially regarding what dotcomisdead argued with snoop - I'd much rather have 100 or dozens of nice .mobi generics instead of 3 crappy letter combination LLL.com names or 1 better quality LLL.com. Think REAL world application. You have a dozens of chances to either resell some or all of the .mobis in the future at a profit. Or you can build out sites on the .mobis. There is real value there.


@ REECE - If someone had $5000 they wanted to invest in domains, I'D tell them to avoid most run of the mill and lousy letter LLLL.coms and LLLL.nets at all costs. I know that the $1.50 LLL.coms you were selling were for someone else. But THEY gave up some serious cash on their .COMs.


Bottom line is that I'm not saying that a NICE LLL.com holds no value. I'm just saying there is more potential locked up in 100 nice generic .mobi terms. Only one or two or a handful can pay for all the rest and their renewal fees for many years.

Whereas, IF you have all your .com egg(s) in one basket you are at a bigger risk. Because unfortunately even some LLL.coms have become UDRP targets. And if implemented, the newly proposed ICANN rules will make that risk even greater. So their "return" can go negative in a hurry. Dot coms are not 100% safe. Forget about holding costs then because you might not get to hold your .com. I KNOW that's extreme but so is totally writing off the future of .mobi as several of you guys (and gals) continue to do.
.

 

[scandiman]

If someone had $5000 they wanted to invest in domains, I'd tell them to avoid .mobi at all costs. If they had 500k to invest, putting 5k into .mobi isn't really going to negatively impact their ROI in any significant way. Putting a little money in .mobi is like putting a little money in one of those collapsed bank stocks -- ten years from now looking back, it may have been a great deal or ten years from now you might have lost everything. Like Snoop has said many times, the bad thing about cheap domains is that you can lose a whole lot more than you initially invested over time because those renewal fees keep on coming year after year.

Like LLLL.coms, I would put .mobi into 2 different risk categories -- the people owning $10 domains and the people owning $100+ domains. Obviously the cheaper the domain, the higher the risk.

I (and simple math) agree with the fact that more domains equals more annual renewal fees, but why would this lead you to telling people to avoid .mobi at all costs? Some high quality .mobi's can be had for $5k or less right now (assuming the owner is willing to part with them), unless you simply have complete disdain for .mobi in general, regardless of the domain quality?

 

[-REECE-]

Agree with you about the bad LLL.coms -- I honestly see no reason why someone would pay $3500 for a terrible LLL.com when even just $4500-$5000 will get them a decent one and that's something I've been saying for quite some time. Sure they're all "domainer collectibles" but what the heck is the point of owning a completely meaningless one which literally doesn't have a chance in hell of finding an end user or even a possible application?

Silly domainers... I don't think most people have money to drop on meaningless trophies in a recession. Same thing for LL.com -- why will a bad one go for 60k or so when a great one only gets 100k? Clearly another case of silly domainers just buying up "rare" domains. With that flawed logic, I should ask 500k for LLLL.com because it's "rare" and there are only 26 domains with 4 repeating letters...

I've never been a fan of valuing a domain based on PPC revenue -- that can drop just like anything else and people with these kind of domains have certainly experienced that over the past couple years. A good domain with revenue as a bonus is nice but I don't see a bad domain making money as much safer than anything else -- possibly less if buying it at an inflated revenue multiple.

I've seen some of your .mobi domains Bill -- they're at least an order of magnitude above the quality of the average .mobi investor. Having 100 good .mobi domains is a pretty different position to be in than having 500 or 1000 "so-so" or outright bad .mobi domains.

No offense but I think it's a bit ridiculous to compare LLL.com UDRPs to the probability of .mobi failing... There's a handful out of 17,576 LLL.coms each year that are essentially "legally reverse domain hijacked" and it's easily prevented by putting up a few pages on your domain, registering a TM, or incorporating a business around it -- all of which are pretty cheap to do and pretty much guarantee the safety of your short domain. Plenty of generics receive questionable UDRPs as well and nowadays, I wouldn't count any domain as safe, especially if it's a UDRP with a sole panelist.

There's probably a couple thousand poor LLL.coms that will likely always remain just domainer trading cards. It's been 20 years and they're still unwanted by end users.


The naysayers (for what ever their reason) and CNO-statist, PPC-minded "experts" had and have the same opportunity to domain with the rest of us who do hold some or many .mobi names. They choose not to. That's fine. But to rule as lords over others who do not share their limited view of the domaining world is


Essentially regarding what dotcomisdead argued with snoop - I'd much rather have 100 or dozens of nice .mobi generics instead of 3 crappy letter combination LLL.com names or 1 better quality LLL.com. Think REAL world application. You have a dozens of chances to either resell some or all of the .mobis in the future at a profit. Or you can build out sites on the .mobis. There is real value there.


@ REECE - If someone had $5000 they wanted to invest in domains, I'D tell them to avoid most run of the mill and lousy letter LLLL.coms and LLLL.nets at all costs. I know that the $1.50 LLL.coms you were selling were for someone else. But THEY gave up some serious cash on their .COMs.


Bottom line is that I'm not saying that a NICE LLL.com holds no value. I'm just saying there is more potential locked up in 100 nice generic .mobi terms. Only one or two or a handful can pay for all the rest and their renewal fees for many years.

Whereas, IF you have all your .com egg(s) in one basket you are at a bigger risk. Because unfortunately even some LLL.coms have become UDRP targets. And if implemented, the newly proposed ICANN rules will make that risk even greater. So their "return" can go negative in a hurry. Dot coms are not 100% safe. Forget about holding costs then because you might not get to hold your .com. I KNOW that's extreme but so is totally writing off the future of .mobi as several of you guys (and gals) continue to do.
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[snoop]

The LLLL and CVCVCVCC domainer craze is still going and it spills over from .com and .net. You have more domainers constantly churning that stuff and in total throwing more money at it than at .mobi names.

Hardly, it die some time ago.

Also, for all the bellyaching domainers do about the perceived shortcomings of dotMobi, they are a VERY active organization doing more to build their brand and legacy than any other registry. Long term business plans do not match the flipper mentality of 95% of domainers.

Most of the what they did was about selling domains to domainers in my view.

All the LLL.mobis are bought up again now so the minimum is above "$0".

The buyout collpased so obviously it did fall to that level. Not sure what they are worth now, I'm guess a few dollars.

The naysayers (for what ever their reason) and CNO-statist, PPC-minded "experts" had and have the same opportunity to domain with the rest of us who do hold some or many .mobi names. They choose not to. That's fine. But to rule as lords over others who do not share their limited view of the domaining world is

Isn't it ironic that you'd describe those who chose not to invest in these names as having "limited views", yet clearly the people who did invest have in the majority of instances lost most of the money their money.

Essentially regarding what dotcomisdead argued with snoop - I'd much rather have 100 or dozens of nice .mobi generics instead of 3 crappy letter combination LLL.com names or 1 better quality LLL.com.

Should we be shocked that you'd prefer to have the .mobi's?

Whereas, IF you have all your .com egg(s) in one basket you are at a bigger risk. Because unfortunately even some LLL.coms have become UDRP targets. And if implemented, the newly proposed ICANN rules will make that risk even greater. So their "return" can go negative in a hurry. Dot coms are not 100% safe. Forget about holding costs then because you might not get to hold your .com. I KNOW that's extreme but so is totally writing off the future of .mobi as several of you guys (and gals) continue to do.
.

The reason why "Dot coms are not 100% safe." from udrp is because they are desired. If enduser really wanted .mobi's you'd see alot of UDRP's aswell. It is a bit like telling people not to live in a nice house because you might get robbed.

 

[scandiman]

If enduser really wanted .mobi's you'd see alot of UDRP's aswell.

A quick search shows 67 UDRP's for .mobi thus far. No doubt more to come.

 

[acc]

Hardly, it die(d) some time ago.

Hardly - No, it is just more "acceptable" in the eyes of the CNO crowd for domainers to continue to throw reg fees year after year at LLLL, LLLLL, and CVCVCVCC stuff just because they are ".com".

Most of the what they did was about selling domains to domainers in my view.

Yes, that is YOUR view. Just because some others can't seem to give credit where credit is due does not mean that dotMobi is not making strides in bringing .mobi along as part of the burgeoning mobile web.

Have you EVER even looked through all the mobile developer tools and services that dotMobi continues to add and offer to the real world? Just click on the links below to read more:

dotMobi registry
mobiForge mobile developers
mobiForge - .mobi site
Instant Mobilizer
Instant Mobilizer - .mobi site
DeviceAtlas
dotMobi compliance & mobile OK checker
mobiThinking mobile marketing
mobiThinking - mobile site

DotMobi is a mobile services company and .mobi domains are one component of their business plan. All the tools that they develop and promote and continue to work on - all bring .mobi along for the ride. And the .mobi domains help introduce all their tools and services to the --worldwide-- audience.

Again, NO other registry if this active in building its brand and services.

The buyout collpased so obviously it did fall to that level. Not sure what they are worth now, I'm guess a few dollars.

Like I said before and will continue to say - I believe there should be NO buyout ANY extension. Other than being domainer trading cards, several 1000 very poor LLL letter combinations are practically unusable because of their extremely low potential applications. So to the real world the dollar figures continually reported on for the last, worst LLL combinations is just a myopic domainer stat.

Isn't it ironic that you'd describe those who chose not to invest in these names as having "limited views", yet clearly the people who did invest have in the majority of instances lost most of the money their money.

Limited views as in not accepting the possibility that .mobi can ever have legs? The "majority" of .mobi investors have lost money? You have NO proof of that at all.

However, what I have seen in forum threads are many SAD examples of domainers showing documented domain losses on .COM domains. Losses of 10's of thousands of dollars - on .COM domains. They bought, they chose to sell off in the present downturn, they took heavy losses. Snoop, I notice that you have been an active commenter in those discussions. Maybe you can provide us a link or two.

Should we be shocked that you'd prefer to have the .mobi's?

I made my argument for the possibilities. Entrepreneurial risk taking is seeing possibilities where others with entrenched views can't seem to or CHOOSE not to do so. That is a personal decision. If one personally does not have the stomach or wish to move off dead center then they shouldn't.

My beef is with those who continually chide others who are willing to go with something other than com/net/org with some of their investments. That is poor sportsmanship. Or envy. Or maybe just a need to argue.

I said upfront my example was extreme to make a point. IF one (1) name falls victim to a loss of any kind then the whole $10k is gone. If no end user comes along for that 1 name then it's value is stagnant. Whereas having dozens or up to 100 names that CAN be targetted to multiple users or developed into dozens of websites. That spreads the risk AND the magnifies the opportunities.

Snoop, throughout many threads you have continually poopooed development as not being domaining in its purest sense. If you write off the endless possibilities of domain development (by domainers) then ALL domains are just domainer trading cards.

At the end of the day, and at the very, very least - any .mobi name can be developed with BOTH mobile and PC sized content. So the value inherent in good keyword .mobi names is that they are USABLE in the REAL WORLD.

That is a SOLID fallback position. But in my view and that of many others, that won't even be needed. It is way, way too early in the life of the mobile web and the introduction of .mobi to write it off like you any some others choose to do. At the low level of early investments required, the potential upside for .mobi is huge and a solid fallback option exists for good names. That makes it a worthwhile entrepreneurial choice.

The reason why "Dot coms are not 100% safe." from udrp is because they are desired. If enduser really wanted .mobi's you'd see alot of UDRP's aswell. It is a bit like telling people not to live in a nice house because you might get robbed.

No, It's more like telling people that there is more risk - and potential LOST OPPORTUNITY - in having only (1) $10,000 lot in a prime location subject to earthquakes or tornadoes than having (100) different $100 lots in new neighborhoods to build on. Less risk, more opportunity.

And I think scandiman' sourced stats illustrate the .mobis are coveted by end users.

The fact remains - there are more end users building sister sites on .mobi domains to complement their main websites than on any other of the new extensions. (cctlds excluded)

And, forum member jmcc continues to provide registry stats showing that .mobi registrations are growing again following the drop cycle of the inevitable junk dump phase.

Finally, do not overlook the Documented adoption of .mobi by real world companies:

Famous .mobi Brands from why.mobi
Famous Brands adopting Dot Mobi from mobisite.org
Real world .mobi adoption from OKOK.com
.

 

[HeyNow]

SNOOP sez: The reason why "Dot coms are not 100% safe." from udrp is because they are desired. If enduser really wanted .mobi's you'd see alot of UDRP's aswell. It is a bit like telling people not to live in a nice house because you might get robbed.

The reason dot-coms are overwhelmingly UDRPed is because there are many more typo-squatters and cybersquatters crapping in .com than any other TLD, period. Trademark holders don't discriminate against various TLDs, they go after typo-squatters, cybersquatters, and trademark infringers, regardless of TLD.

Why do you protect those who typo-squat and cybersquat. Are you one of them?

 

[-REECE-]

Had to modify your post a bit -- you're welcome to debate but please keep the thread clean of curse words.

That having been said, I certainly agree with you about the .com cybersquatting and typosquatting.

The only reason this is done more in .com than in other extensions is because many of these domains will end up getting type-in traffic and hence a type like facebok.com (Alexa rank 11,609) may end up being quite valuable.

 

[HeyNow]

Had to modify your post a bit -- you're welcome to debate but please keep the thread clean of curse words.

I didn't know "ARSEHOLE" was a curse word, sorry.

 

[labrocca]

NV.mobi..awesome site. Probably the only mobi site I would use on a regular basis and even tell others about. That's great.

So many mobi fans want mobi to be successful. Even if mobi does become a household term and used widely by the cell providers by incorporating the magic button. There will still be imho a low valuation for mobi domains. As we continue to see Mobi names get developed and advertised even by well-known national companies I still do not see mobi becoming a success for domainers.

Sales of CNO which are touted weekly on DNJournal show that the resale values of Mobi are nearly non-existant. Even info regularly outperforms mobi. Why the mobi fans can't see that I will never know?

This is a domainers forum. This isn't a developers forum. Which if you do travel to one of the many developer communities mobi is a pariah. For domainers mobi had it's moment and then it fizzled.

A comparison if you will. Just 5 years ago housing speculators were buying dozens of properties and quick-flipping them for tremendous profit. The hype and unrealistic belief that housing prices couldn't fall created a bubble. Once that bubble burst the investors lost everything. There is still a housing market and houses do have value but from a speculators standpoint it's dead.

We are domainers here. It's not unreasonable to believe that mobi can have some success but at what level and who is going to be successful? There is lots of talk from both camps about development but the truth is that we here are for the most part domainers. Some are pure play that never do anything beyond parking. How does this equate into success for the average domainer?

A questions was raised a few pages back about how I would view a successful mobi domainer. I would view them with great respect for being able to tredge through a tough market such as mobi. Then I would wonder how much success they would have incorporating that same effort into CNO and wonder why they bother with such a tough extension. It's like being the best jockey on a racetrack with the worst horse. Buy a better horse.

On the YTD (DNJ) charts dotinfo has 7 names listed. Mobi has NONE. This isn't a failure of mobi. It's a failure for mobi domain investors. The two need to be seperated imho.

Mobi attempted to hit a niche market by attaching itself to the growing mobile use of the internet. This is a good thing imho. The mission of mobi is a great one. I believe mTLD has made a ton of mistakes though. Mobi domainers are the ones who are paying the price for those mistakes.

Mobi is a niche. When you hit a niche market you have to play it very carefully and it's normally a minimal amount of players that do well. I have seen some mobi portfolios and they are complete crap. I can go back 2 years and dig up threads of people boasting of 500 mobi names which are now available to register again. The dropping of the LLL.mobi's was very significant but not to mobi...to mobi INVESTORS. This effected the domainers not anyone else. mTLD doesn't really care. Those with development plans don't care. Those with mobi sites don't care. Mobi investors and domainers should certainly care. Yes I know that LLL's sold out again (positive news imho).

If you are indeed a mobi investor please consider your position in the "ecosystem". You're a fringe player that mobi doesn't need. Unless 5 million mobi names are registered to stifle the market and create a higher valuation mobi resales will continue to be low.

I ask that anyone with an open mind really view their mobi portfolio from an end-user point of view and figure out what the mobi is worth and how likely it is to even sell. Mobi domainers do not have the same revenue streams or activity of CNO. They are facing a very uphill battle.

All the major domainers I know of have dropped mobi completely that's even if they invested to begin with. Some of the top mobi fans early on have now completely dropped mobi as well. I don't see too much fresh blood entering the market as domainers. It's usually the same small yet vocal group.

The application of mobi is limited. mTLD itself limits the extension with development requirements. Next is the limitations of usage on a cell phone. Next is the genre for which the mobi user will actually use mobi for. The use of the internet isn't the same when mobile. Yes it's evolving but still the application has it's limitations. It's mainly geo information which is the strength of mobi. Sites like nv.mobi imho are perfect examples. So this greatly limits the usage of domains.

I will admit. I maybe wrong. Three years into this discussion and I have not been. Mobi resale valuations have tanked for domainers.

I don't believe that reflects the success of mobi as an extension. It only reflects the success of mobi as a domainer investment. Let's seperate the two. Because if you believe that every new mobi site has suddenly increased your portfolio value then you're mistaken imho.

In case you want to ask me what would make mobi a success for domainers...well quite simpy more resales that hit the charts. When more end-users start buying mobi from domainers for good money. When they are willing to fork over $x,xxx or more for strong keywords. The market is showing that it's stagnant. Do mobi investors deny this? For all the discussions of the mobi future how does mobi investors currently feel about the present? There is too much talk of the future of mobi and not even reflection on the past or the present.

This week DNJ reported Skymobile.com as a $10k sale. The mobi is registered. One has to wonder if it's the people that own skymobile (neither site resolves). The whois for the com is still Moniker for now. But let's say this is the same company. Do you think they paid anything significant for the mobi? If you were the owner of skymobile.mobi what would you value it at? $50? $100? Maybe even $250. The mobi appears to be sunrise so that was what..under $100?

Again...I could totally be wrong. But I don't see why we can't discuss this with respect.

 

[000]

Good post Jesse. Repped.

I hold a relatively small portfolio of .mobi's (~200) and I'm glad I don't own more... but, I will say that for those who still have money to invest, there are currently some nice bargains to be had. Regardless, drop your worst .mobi's and focus on the ones with the best development potential.

 

[mo_dork]

The application of mobi is limited. mTLD itself limits the extension with development requirements. Next is the limitations of usage on a cell phone. Next is the genre for which the mobi user will actually use mobi for. The use of the internet isn't the same when mobile. Yes it's evolving but still the application has it's limitations. It's mainly geo information which is the strength of mobi. Sites like nv.mobi imho are perfect examples. So this greatly limits the usage of domains.

I will admit. I maybe wrong. Three years into this discussion and I have not been.

There is a bunch of truth in your post and some inaccuracies. Here's what I think are innacuracies-

1.
"Next is the limitations of usage on a cell phone."
This is not a limitation. In due course more people will be accessing the web via their mobile phones than via their computers. The mobile web will be larger than the regular web. Being in mobile will be an asset.

2.
"Next is the genre for which the mobi user will actually use mobi for."
In due course ALL websites/businesses will need/have a mobile site. Therefor all or nearly all genre's are valid.

3.
"It's mainly geo information which is the strength of mobi."
This is what they said about the regular web 10 years ago. This statement is completely wrong! The mobile web will be used for not only all the stuff the regular web is used for now, but a myriad of new applications too, from monitoring health and fitness, to finances to various social applications, to gaming to mobile TV....

4.
"I will admit. I maybe wrong. Three years into this discussion and I have not been"
You are not wrong, but you will be!
You will be wrong on the day you watch TV on your phone and read a book on your phone and upload your photos to flickr and share your family video to youtube, and check your stock prices and order a pizza and book a flight/check its status/check in, access facebook etc. When all this and so much more is a reality and normal behavior, this is when you can judge if .mobi is a failure.

We are BEGINNING of the mobile era and usage of the .mobi TLD, and there is a long road ahead. But all the above is expected to happen, and its clearly starting to happen and has happened in other parts of the world. The mobile web will be the main web and the biggest medium ever. when this happens a .mobi will be as valid as a .com. Maybe not as good, but definitely a respectable and acceptable and affordable 2nd choice. The world needs a second choice because the dotcoms are all taken and too expensive. If .mobi is not the second choice then what is?
.net?
How big is the market for the 2nd choice?
HUGE

 

[Kate]

Great post Jesse, a few comments however:

Mobi is a niche. When you hit a niche market you have to play it very carefully and it's normally a minimal amount of players that do well.

Agreed, at this point .mobi has achieved niche status, no way it's on the road to becoming .com's natural complement but there are still people who won't admit it :hehe:

Yes I know that LLL's sold out again (positive news imho).

In my view it doesn't mean much. I am astonished when domainers think that a buyout in a TLD will naturally result in higher resale prices. Buyouts have taken place in other extensions like .us .info .biz .in and we all know how much LLL are selling for in those extensions. The buyout is artificial because the demand from end users just isn't there so the prices are stagnating.

The mobile web will be the main web and the biggest medium ever. when this happens a .mobi will be as valid as a .com. Maybe not as good, but definitely a respectable and acceptable and affordable 2nd choice. The world needs a second choice because the dotcoms are all taken and too expensive. If .mobi is not the second choice then what is?
.net?
How big is the market for the 2nd choice?
HUGE

The second choice to .com ? It is .net. Or your ccTLD. These are more logical choices.
If you're suggesting .mobi can be a convenient replacement for a mainstream TLD like .com you're missing the point.

But I like the way Scandi puts it as it makes sense:

Where .mobi can make more sense than the alternatives is for new players focused only on the mobile market