.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 ?

 

[acc]

Where are these success stories?

For a domain investor/speculator (in any extension) it doesn't take many sales from that part of your holdings to cover the annual reg fees - IF you have a number of usable generics and good LLLs and then get a few decent sales. You can wait out a market downturn or bide time while you develop some of the names as planned. And keep selling along the way as needed.

So here's a real example,
One $1500 sale pays for 150 renewals
One $2500 sale pays for 250 renewals
One $5000 sale pays for 500 renewals

Before you summarily dismiss the numbers above, they are actual examples of some personal end-user .mobi name sales this year - a couple of the above were reported on Sedo and the other was a private sale.

The bottom line is that -- good, usable names -- in non-CNO extensions sell too. So yes, they can and do cover their holding costs. And multiple $xxx sales add up too.

Given the failure rate is so high, how can it be concluded it is just as valid a path as other areas of domaining. It comes back to the same old question, who is making money from these domains? If there is money in it why have the domainers that were buying stopped buying? ie prices are down 90%-100%. At the end of the day the values in aftermarket are the best guide you'll ever get as to how well domainers are doing with an extension.

What "failure rate is so high"? What rate? What is a "failure rate"? Are you making a term up? Show us all the math. Show us all the names. Do you think your math applies to everyone?

Why aren't ALL the .mobi names on the market selling? Several reasons.

Quality should be considered first. Surely you would not suggest that every single term and brandable .mobi name should be bought up just because it's available at the moment. As one looks at the majority of .mobi drops left now or many names in the forums sales sections, why would you buy most of them unless they happen to fit a niche you are focusing on?

My view is that domainers who have experienced and/or see the potential in .mobi have likely had their fill from all their original regs/purchases in 2006-2008 plus a nice second helping of good names acquired during the first major drop cycle that occurred in 2008/2009.

Continued falling of PPC revenues and lower selling/flipping prices for CNOs means less "free money" to flow into other domaining sectors. Another fator - lots of available new money was chasing the .asia and then the .tel landrushes.

And MOST importantly, no doubt slower names sales and lower price points have hit the domainer market in total as a reflection of the downturn of the entire worldwide economy. Less capital flowing.

"Most households have reduced spending. In a recent survey conducted by the McKinsey Journal, 90% of “respondents said that their households had reduced spending as a result of the recession.” Of that, 33% cited significant decreases in spending.""

The state of ANY market (real or percieved) today will be different in the future.


Let's put things in real perspective. Add up how many names drop every single day from domainers giving up names in ALL extensions.

Add up ALL those dropped name DOLLARS going forward. To have comparable situations you can not use the artificially high drop rates from the peak months of the recent initial .mobi drop cycle and compare drops of other extensions during that time period. So let's add up the DOLLARS going forward.

Yep, add up all those annual actual lost DOLLARS resulting from lousy regs or even decent regs dropped by impatient domainers without a plan. I understand that there are more regs and domainers involved with CNO, etc than with mobi. But let's look at the total DOLLARS lost. Real, spendable, cold hard cash capital. Not relative stats and percentages.

In the aftermarket sadly, actual losses are happening even with good .COM names in big chunks. Your "documented domain losses" thread at another forum you know well shows this. For those who have paid big $$$$ for names in ANY extension, if they sold off at a loss it IS a loss. If they hold onto those names with a plan it is a paper loss. Yes, that even applies to .coms.

So IMHO, the anti-mobi-save-the-domainers-evangelists should focus their efforts where it will have the most material impact - saving the 1000s of new and average domainers who are regging TM names, typos, brandables, and chasing LLLLLLs and CVVVVCVCVCVCVs buyouts just because they are Com/Net/Org. But, if that's someone's thing - have at it.


Big .com domainers hold out for better prices and are praised for doing so when their record sales are reported and then discussed to death on domainer forums and blogs. Non-CNO domain holders are held to a different standard by some.

Alternative extension sales obviously happen on a much smaller scale (frequency and price point), but there are similarities. It baffles me why domainers can't acknowledge success of others who choose to include not-yet-mainstream products (names) on a smaller scale.

Investments require the same patience and planning whether they are part of a ten million dollar portfolio or a thousand dollar portfolio. If you run an upscale business in Manhattan there is no reason to look down your nose at someone who runs a similar but more modest business in the new suburbs. Suburbs grow. Opportunities exist.


If domain holders have a game plan, with a plan B and maybe a even a plan C & D in the wings - and they hold usable-in-the-real-world-keyword names in a new or "alternative" extension, then there is a good possibility that they can make their investment be successful. (But God-forbid they "develop" any names along the way to deviate from being "pure domainers"... some people just don't think that's right ... )

"If you believe you can or believe you can't - you're right."​

Planning, patience, and persistence - trumps panning and pessimism.
.

 

[labrocca]

The state of ANY market (real or percieved) today will be different in the future.

You're stating the obvious but not adding that it doesn't have to do well.

Continued falling of PPC revenues and lower selling/flipping prices for CNOs means less "free money" to flow into other domaining sectors.

On my websites I have had nothing but increasing revenue. Do you park?

btw acc...do you have a portfolio list? I am curious to see what you hold.

You can go have a laugh at my dwinndling portfolio here:
Domain for Sale

It's now filled with forum names as it's my development specialty and I have sold off a good deal of my good keyword names. Not an A-list portfolio but I still get end-user sales.

 

[mo_dork]

You're stating the obvious but not adding that it doesn't have to do well.

On my websites I have had nothing but increasing revenue. Do you park?

btw acc...do you have a portfolio list? I am curious to see what you hold.

You can go have a laugh at my dwinndling portfolio here:
Domain for Sale

It's now filled with forum names as it's my development specialty and I have sold off a good deal of my good keyword names. Not an A-list portfolio but I still get end-user sales.

Thought I saw a mobile related in there-
mforum.com:gn:

but it was-
rnforum.com

Ok, so now send us your mobi list!
Don't be shy.

---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:20 PM ----------

So Labrocca i am glad to hear your list is profitable for you. Do you think that all .mobi names have negligible value or do you think there are some generic word mobis that may be more valuable in the long run than many of your sub-generic names?

 

[Morph]

rickroll.mobi
rickrolled.mobi

+1 internets for you sir. :tu:

 

[mjnels]

rickroll.mobi
rickrolled.mobi

+1 internets for you sir. :tu:

yea but.. -1 internets for you for actually using the term "internets" in 2009.

 

[labrocca]

rickroll.mobi
rickrolled.mobi

+1 internets for you sir. :tu:

I let them drop recently..or maybe they are about to expire...not sure which.

So Labrocca i am glad to hear your list is profitable for you. Do you think that all .mobi names have negligible value or do you think there are some generic word mobis that may be more valuable in the long run than many of your sub-generic names?

Everything has a value. Sure some very strong mobile or geo related mobi names probably are worth $x,xxx. btw..I got a $10k offer the past few months on one of my forum names.

 

[snoop]

For a domain investor/speculator (in any extension) it doesn't take many sales from that part of your holdings to cover the annual reg fees - IF you have a number of usable generics and good LLLs and then get a few decent sales. You can wait out a market downturn or bide time while you develop some of the names as planned. And keep selling along the way as needed.

So here's a real example,
One $1500 sale pays for 150 renewals
One $2500 sale pays for 250 renewals
One $5000 sale pays for 500 renewals


Before you summarily dismiss the numbers above, they are actual examples of some personal end-user .mobi name sales this year - a couple of the above were reported on Sedo and the other was a private sale.

A real example would be stating your revenue and expense from these names, not one side of the coin (revenue). If your claim was true " it doesn't take many sales from that part of your holdings to cover the annual reg fees" then these names wouldn't have fallen so heavily, the size of the registration pool wouldn't be contracting.

.mobi fans can argue till they are blue in the face about how well this extension is doing but the scoreboard is painting a complete different story. That scoreboard is aftermarket sales.

What "failure rate is so high"? What rate? What is a "failure rate"? Are you making a term up? Show us all the math. Show us all the names. Do you think your math applies to everyone?

The number of people suffering losses, the number getting out of this market. When prices fall 90%-100% alot of people have failed. If doesn't apply to everyone, it does apply to most.

Why aren't ALL the .mobi names on the market selling? Several reasons.

The issue is the magnitude of the price fall, the amount of money lost. During the people of the boom most names probably didn't sell. that is always the case in the domain market.

My view is that domainers who have experienced and/or see the potential in .mobi have likely had their fill from all their original regs/purchases in 2006-2008 plus a nice second helping of good names acquired during the first major drop cycle that occurred in 2008/2009.

Continued falling of PPC revenues and lower selling/flipping prices for CNOs means less "free money" to flow into other domaining sectors. Another fator - lots of available new money was chasing the .asia and then the .tel landrushes.[/QUOTE]

All the justifications in th world will not change the fact that values have heavily fallen, far more than the rest of the market.

Let's put things in real perspective. Add up how many names drop every single day from domainers giving up names in ALL extensions.

Add up ALL those dropped name DOLLARS going forward. To have comparable situations you can not use the artificially high drop rates from the peak months of the recent initial .mobi drop cycle and compare drops of other extensions during that time period. So let's add up the DOLLARS going forward.

Not really sure what you are talking about here. The number of .mobi domains registered is falling, I don't think this is occuring in any other extension right now.

In the aftermarket sadly, actual losses are happening even with good .COM names in big chunks. Your "documented domain losses" thread at another forum you know well shows this. For those who have paid big $$$$ for names in ANY extension, if they sold off at a loss it IS a loss. If they hold onto those names with a plan it is a paper loss. Yes, that even applies to .coms.

Except that the % losses in .mobi seem to be multitudes high as a % than .com. For example top end .com's are down about 50%, top end .mobi's are down 90%. This is more than the just the recession effect. People are voting with their wallets on .mobi. Viewpoints now are totally different to a couple of years ago on it relative to the rest of the market. All the stuff about backers and .mobi buttons has turned into nothing. It is some just an alt extension for pure mobile sites.

So IMHO, the anti-mobi-save-the-domainers-evangelists should focus their efforts where it will have the most material impact - saving the 1000s of new and average domainers who are regging TM names, typos, brandables, and chasing LLLLLLs and CVVVVCVCVCVCVs buyouts just because they are Com/Net/Org. But, if that's someone's thing - have at it.

I'd compare .mobi speculation to the buyouts (LLLL.com etc) personally, very similar type of mentality and with coressponding losses.

Big .com domainers hold out for better prices and are praised for doing so when their record sales are reported and then discussed to death on domainer forums and blogs. Non-CNO domain holders are held to a different standard by some.

Alternative extension sales obviously happen on a much smaller scale (frequency and price point), but there are similarities. It baffles me why domainers can't acknowledge success of others who choose to include not-yet-mainstream products (names) on a smaller scale.

Investments require the same patience and planning whether they are part of a ten million dollar portfolio or a thousand dollar portfolio. If you run an upscale business in Manhattan there is no reason to look down your nose at someone who runs a similar but more modest business in the new suburbs. Suburbs grow. Opportunities exist.

You are on a tangent.

If domain holders have a game plan, with a plan B and maybe a even a plan C & D in the wings - and they hold usable-in-the-real-world-keyword names in a new or "alternative" extension, then there is a good possibility that they can make their investment be successful. (But God-forbid they "develop" any names along the way to deviate from being "pure domainers"... some people just don't think that's right ... )

A huge stretch given how things have gone. Most are losing money on these names. If you are saying some can still win, that is true, but the odds are not good.

---------- Post added at 06:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:52 PM ----------

You're stating the obvious but not adding that it doesn't have to do well.



On my websites I have had nothing but increasing revenue. Do you park?

btw acc...do you have a portfolio list? I am curious to see what you hold.

You can go have a laugh at my dwinndling portfolio here:
Domain for Sale

It's now filled with forum names as it's my development specialty and I have sold off a good deal of my good keyword names. Not an A-list portfolio but I still get end-user sales.

Personally I haven't seen anythign to suggest developed sites with PPC ads on them are doing any better than park pages (ie revenue heavily down). I kind of wonder about pure ecommerce sites as well, there is a reason why ad rates are falling, it isn't just quality issues, especially in recent months.

 

[labrocca]

Personally I haven't seen anythign to suggest developed sites with PPC ads on them are doing any better than park pages (ie revenue heavily down). I kind of wonder about pure ecommerce sites as well, there is a reason why ad rates are falling, it isn't just quality issues, especially in recent months.

Acc - Still waiting to see a portfolio list. I am very curious to see your overall investments.
My adsense/adbrite revenue is up (better CPM) and my sedo parking payouts are down. I am just one person so it may not reflect the market but most of the complaining I see are with parking PPC.

For me when something I am doing isn't giving me a return I ditch it and focus on the things that are bringing in the revenue.

I wonder how many mobi domainers are diverse enough to actually get out of the mobi market. Some seems so heavily invested they may have no choice but to stick with it.

 

[dotcomisdead]

I hope you'll bear with me for posting this;

This is a press release regarding Volvo Trucks biggest Indian Order to date, I'm posting it because it is a press release regarding Volvo Trucks in India.. It's not about the internet, it's not about domains... it's just about business...

Now take a look at the urls they refer to... I have highlighted them for you... (they aren't highlighted in the original PR)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Volvo Secures Record Truck Order in India


Volvo Secures Record Truck Order in India
STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Volvo (STO:VOLVA) (STO:VOLVB) Trucks in India has secured an order for 125 trucks. It is the company’s largest order since being established in the country.

Vijay Leasing Company in Hyderabad, India is the company purchasing 125 Volvo FM trucks. The trucks will be delivered in the summer of 2009 for use in coal and steel mines in southern India. Vijay Leasing Company already owns 108 Volvo trucks.

In Volvo Trucks’ full ten-year presence in India, this is the largest order ever and a milestone, according to Pär Östberg, member of Volvo’s Group Executive Management and President of Trucks Asia. There are a total of 5,500 Volvo trucks in India, which is the world’s fourth largest truck market.

“In India, Volvo Trucks belongs to the premium segment and has secured a place as the leading manufacturer in terms of safety and environmental responsibility”, says Pär Östberg. “We have a solid customer base, very strong customer relationships and the best aftermarket solutions”.

He is cautiously optimistic about the Indian truck market and views the order as a sign that the vehicle market in India may be on the rise.

“We are observing positive signs of a recovery regarding light trucks and buses. In terms of heavy trucks, the market is still declining but at a slower rate.”

The sale is being conducted through VE Commercial Vehicles, which is a joint-venture launched in 2008 between Volvo and the Indian company, Eicher Motors. VE Commercial Vehicles comprises Eicher Motor’s trucks and buses, and the Volvo Group’s truck sales and service network for trucks and buses.

July 3, 2009

Visit BroadcastRoom for Volvo Group to access broadcast-standard video from Volvo Group. You can preview and request video, and choose to receive as a MPEG2 file or by Beta SP tape. Registration and video is free to the media.

The Volvo Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and services. The Group also provides complete solutions for financing and service. The Volvo Group, which employs about 100,000 people, has production facilities in 19 countries and sells their products in more than 180 markets. In 2008 annual sales of the Volvo Group amounted to about SEK 300 billion. The Volvo Group is a publicly-held company headquartered in Göteborg, Sweden. Volvo shares are listed on OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm. For more information, please visit www.volvogroup.com or volvogroup.mobi if you are using your mobile phone.

AB Volvo (publ) may be required to disclose the information provided herein pursuant to the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication at 12.00 a.m. CET, 3, July, 2009.

This information was brought to you by Cision Newsroom | Cision Wire

------------------------------------------------------

My point is not to say "look a dotmobi" it is simply to point out that many companies are using dotmobi in conjunction with their main domain... (either a dotcom or country code)..... and it is happening.
How this relates to valuations I cannot tell you... How this relates to the future I cannot predict..

But with talk.com selling for $500,000 recently it would be a brave domainer to state that money in dotcom is safer than money in dotmobi... my prediction is that many dotcoms will decline from their heady peaks and that dotmobi will rise from their trough... I have never claimed that the values of the two extensions will ever be on a par with each other but I do believe that the foremost extensions that come out of this recessionary period will be com / country code & mobi... press releases like this one from Volvo are typical of those that reassure me that I may be on the right track.
(note that the press release is 'fresh' today - I could have used a different one yesterday and could find another tomorrow...)

---------- Post added at 12:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:00 PM ----------

Acc - Still waiting to see a portfolio list. I am very curious to see your overall investments..
My adsense/adbrite revenue is up (better CPM) and my sedo parking payouts are down. I am just one person so it may not reflect the market but most of the complaining I see are with parking PPC.

For me when something I am doing isn't giving me a return I ditch it and focus on the things that are bringing in the revenue.

I wonder how many mobi domainers are diverse enough to actually get out of the mobi market. Some seems so heavily invested they may have no choice but to stick with it.

Would you be prepared to do the same as you ask of ACC?

 

[labrocca]

Would you be prepared to do the same as you ask of ACC?

I posted my portfolio link along with my request.

Domain for Sale

I gotta update it though. It's about 6 months old now and I have sold off or let drop about 50 names.

As for Volvo...again this is another instance where a trademark domain is used. This hasn't so far helped mobi domainers investments. If you owned volvo.mobi you would get slapped with a UDRP or worse. Mobi sites can be successful for trademark companies. This doesn't seem to translate into strong end-user sales. The strongest end-user sales are from places that want the traffic or to start a new site. Mobi is being ignored by that group.

 

[acc]

On my websites I have had nothing but increasing revenue. Do you park?

btw acc...do you have a portfolio list? I am curious to see what you hold.

You can go have a laugh at my dwinndling portfolio here:
Domain for Sale

It's now filled with forum names as it's my development specialty and I have sold off a good deal of my good keyword names. Not an A-list portfolio but I still get end-user sales.

You are correct to point out a differentiation between parking revenues generated on websites and PPC from just parking. Your ongoing developments and organic link building ripens your websites nicely and can increase traffic to bring in more revenue in many forms compared to static parked pages. Although people/companies do very well with all kinds of domain use models. I was originally referring to fallen parking revenue because that is my own experience. I mostly park names while for sale or in hold mode. Starting to make minisites and other sites are in the works.

Jesse - Here is a small sample of some of my mobis. Maybe not my best but an example of generic terms that have real world use potential. My belief is that people's want/need for info is anything/anywhere/anytime. Handheld devices are just another way to access information. Dot mobi names could figure into that equation. There's the potential.
http://www.namepros.com/mobi-marketplace/535009-big-mobi-generic-landrush-name-sale.html#post3172840

No need to apologize for your name holdings. You obviously have forum niche that you enjoy building out and that is profitable for you. That is the best of both worlds. And yes, it's nice when end users search you out via whois to inquire about buying a name.
.

 

[labrocca]

Thanks Acc for posting a few. What's your total number of holdings in mobi?

You have some good names in there...the geo's of course.

Can I ask how these do for parking revenue?
A24. LakeErie
A25. LakeMichigan
A26. LakeSuperior
A27. LakeOntario

Hoping you at least make reg fee from them. It's names like that imho are good indicators of traffic/revenue for mobi.

Do you ever look at your portfolio now and shake your head with some of the registrations? Do you think "that's not mobile appropriate"?

 

[acc]

Thanks Acc for posting a few. What's your total number of holdings in mobi?

You have some good names in there...the geo's of course.

Can I ask how these do for parking revenue?
A24. LakeErie
A25. LakeMichigan
A26. LakeSuperior
A27. LakeOntario

Hoping you at least make reg fee from them. It's names like that imho are good indicators of traffic/revenue for mobi.

Do you ever look at your portfolio now and shake your head with some of the registrations? Do you think "that's not mobile appropriate"?

Each name has an idea for it when I reg or buy them. But yes, everyone looks at their portfolios and let some go if ideas/motivations change.

Parking rev is very minimal on those names I believe. I've only have them a few months. Better served as resale names or development targets (some people may not appreciate that option) than for parking with no content.

As I explained, "My belief is that people's want/need for info is anything/anywhere/anytime."
I think that many domainers view of looking at what is or what is not "mobile appropriate" is limiting their potential of using a name.

I know in a previous thread that you said you don't personally surf much on a hand held. Others do. And I think accessing the internet from ones mobile will become as common as doing at a desktop/laptop is today. That's what got and keeps me (and I think many others) very optimistic about .mobi's chances going forward.

.

 

[mo_dork]

I know in a previous thread that you said you don't personally surf much on a hand held. Others do. And I think accessing the internet from ones mobile will become as common as doing at a desktop/laptop is today. That's what got and keeps me (and I think many others) very optimistic about .mobi's chances going forward.
.

Massive understatement. Tell it as it is. ALL trends, all stats, all tech predictions and timelines point to mobile being the primary gateway to the internet on planet earth. Take a look at usage in Japan and extrapolate across the globe, that is what we are looking at. The main gateway for any given website receiving the most traffic will be the mobile version, so m.flickr.com, will receive more traffic than flickr.com etc...

That is where we are headed. Future mobile devices and network speeds, and applications will make surfing the web a pleasure not a pain. That's when .mobi will become much more desirable and appropriate than it is now. Mobi valuations may not appreciate too much until businesses and the masses and finally domainers see the trend for themselves.

Meanwhile you may wish to go buy one of these to improve your mobile experience-
YouTube - HTC Hero - First Look

---------- Post added at 04:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:50 PM ----------

Jesse - Here is a small sample of some of my mobis. Maybe not my best...
.

For sure not your best.

 

[labrocca]

Meanwhile you may wish to go buy one of these to improve your mobile experience-
YouTube - HTC Hero - First Look

That's very cool. It's Android based which is the G1 OS. The video is nearly 5 minutes and only 13 seconds are devoted to browsing. Most if it is the applications including Twitter. I really believe most mobile devices will be application based more than "surfing" pages. Also all pages the HTC showed were regular sites nothing mobi or mobile compliant.

Take a look at usage in Japan and extrapolate across the globe, that is what we are looking at.

Japan is rarely a trend setter otherwise cucumber soda would be huge.
Cucumber Soda Anyone? - CBS News

For the most part the Japanese are much more into their technology and gadgets than the rest of the world.

While I will say that mobile internet usage will continue to rise I don't see how this will greatly increase the mobi values. We already see a backward trend now sinced mobile usage is increasing and mobi is decreasing in value. How do you explain that? And don't discuss the economy. The fact is that growing sectors are on the rise such as energy.

 

[mo_dork]

That's very cool. It's Android based which is the G1 OS. The video is nearly 5 minutes and only 13 seconds are devoted to browsing. Most if it is the applications including Twitter. I really believe most mobile devices will be application based more than "surfing" pages. Also all pages the HTC showed were regular sites nothing mobi or mobile compliant.

Japan is rarely a trend setter otherwise cucumber soda would be huge.
Cucumber Soda Anyone? - CBS News

For the most part the Japanese are much more into their technology and gadgets than the rest of the world.

While I will say that mobile internet usage will continue to rise I don't see how this will greatly increase the mobi values. We already see a backward trend now sinced mobile usage is increasing and mobi is decreasing in value. How do you explain that? And don't discuss the economy. The fact is that growing sectors are on the rise such as energy.

Saying that the future of mobile is apps based is just you speculating and searching for something that is contrary to .mobi usage. What are you basing this on?
Like your assertion that geo mobile websites are the way to go. You are just speculating, or are you doing indeph research. Do you CNO guys do research about the future? Sounds like you figure the future will be the same as the past and present?
Thats what the newspaper guys thought up until a couple of years ago.
many people will make that mistake about mobile too, its a game changer.

Regarding apps-
The fact is that for the regular web it is web based, not just a bunch of apps on your pc. right?
So that was the way it went the first time around and that is where it will go for the mobile web too. Think about it, currently you have a bunch of competing platforms, symbian, macOS, windows, blackberry, palm etc, and if you want to do cool functionality it wont work across all these devices. So if you want to take advantage of the iphone functionality for example, it has to be on the phone itself. Once we have cross platform standardization then a web based solution is superior as its easier to distribute and access. Who wants to make an app for every phone type, its not cost effective, there are already multiple app stores to cater to each phone type. Not to mention who wants 500 apps on their phone and updating each one, too complicated. And now that there are literally '50,000' apps on the iphone app store, its increasingly difficult for developers to make their apps stand out and make cash like they did at the very beginning of the iphone saga.
The new HTC phone supports flash lite which means you can now do cool things graphically on this phone and it potentially doesn't have to just be for the HTC phone. Once that trend expands the coolness of the iphone will diminish. Hence apple don't allow flash lite on their phones so they can distinguish themselves from the rest. Apps will stick around, but generally this will go web based.

Regarding Japan and the mobile web, they have been far ahead of us for the last decade in usage. They still are, contactless payments using your phone is a standard practice over there, as is spending your whole day staring at your phone. Did you know something like the top 5 best selling literary novels published last year in Japan were mobile phone based-
Cell phone stories writing new chapter in print publishing - CNN.com

And regarding why the mobile web is good for .mobi.
(I can't believe I have to answer this after all the threads and discussions)
Heres the simple equation-
bigger mobile web = more mobile sites = bigger market for dotmobi

 

[Kate]

Regarding Japan and the mobile web, they have been far ahead of us for the last decade in usage. They still are, contactless payments using your phone is a standard practice over there, as is spending your whole day staring at your phone.

Japan has always been a peculiar market. But tell me how popular .mobi is in Japan. Since mobile usage is so prevalent there it could reasonably be expected that .mobi would blossom in a more favorable environment.
Is that the case ?

 

[mo_dork]

Japan has always been a peculiar market. But tell me how popular .mobi is in Japan. Since mobile usage is so prevalent there it could reasonably be expected that .mobi would blossom in a more favorable environment.
Is that the case ?

On my last visit I saw a few mobis around but not many. The thing is the mobile web over there was established before mobi showed up. Also the mobile web over there is a little different than in the west in that there are a bunch of large closed networks, and typically the user doesn't just surf to random addresses, more likely they go to a myriad of services provided by the network operator. So its kind of portal based and if you as a developer want to have a site navigable from this portal, you pay the network operator for space. This was how it mostly has been to date but times are changing too in Japan and users are starting to break out from these closed networks. So now, I believe, there is a trend towards the western model of stand alone sites. Which is an increasing market for .mobi. A local friend told me they were becoming more popular and he had seen many mobi sites.

 

[thebiffenator]

Personaly IMHO .mobi is gaining momentum every day, much more then most.

My reasoning is this:

Traffic to my sites are gaining radipidlymy one site gets over 20,000 hits a day now and over 1,000 unqiues a day and every month it keeps gaining. And alot of the traffic is coming from mobile .com back links. My other sites are doing very well also. I launched a brand new site last week "top secrect" :D But we tested it out and have over 900 new membrs and gaining 5-10 new members a day. Of course my parntner and I advertised it for $60 worth in admob earnings, but it goes to show that people are coming back and new signups happening 5 days after launch and when the ad ran on their phones.

My best friend works for ESPN in the internet department as an annalyst, he tells me "ESPN loves it" My other friend the other was at his shore house on a dial up computer trying to get soem sports stuff and remembered the .mobi, the dot com took way too long and probbably not with an updated computer, so he typed in the .mobi and it bam. All he wanted was quick info.

My other good friend works for HP and an iphone/facebook addict, he is one of those junkies that has to say everythign he is doing and always on his iphone, He now uses .mobi sites for sports, news and pretty much everything else. He is even buying some .mobis.

I can honestly say, I believe the mobile era that we all have been waiting for is all ready, the phones are better, service is broader and I think the time is right for people to use their phones with sites, for example look at twitter and facebook. Before people just texted but now they are on there APPs or sites giving status/info/contact ect.... I think that is a big hint on what is to come. "TheTimes they are a changing"-Bob Dylan

Happy 4th everyone

 

[plaggypig]

On the face of it I understand why people talk about how large corporations use their domains, but I think a far better barometer would be to look at SMEs, or even internet-based startups. Those groups are where you find the ideas and innovation of the future, not the crusty old corporations whose management layers have nothing better to do than come up with new initiatives to try and win promotions. An even better community to look at would be web developers, who are often the real decision makers - what will they advise clients with specifications for mobile usability?