.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 ?

 

[mo_dork]

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?

Definitely agree.
mtld needs to target the startup guys. The startup guys will be generating a buzz around their new sites and .mobi can be along for the ride. I think a great strategy would be to sponsor one of the many startup conferences. These events get a lot of coverage on social media and these are the people who will probably initiate the breakout mobi sites. Time to act mtld.

 

[exsedo]

"mtld needs to target the startup guys. The startup guys will be generating a buzz around their new sites and .mobi can be along for the ride. I think a great strategy would be to sponsor one of the many startup conferences. These events get a lot of coverage on social media and these are the people who will probably initiate the breakout mobi sites. Time to act mtld."

:bingo: This has been the argument all along, mtld not being active enough to better promote .mobi

 

[mo_dork]

"mtld needs to target the startup guys. The startup guys will be generating a buzz around their new sites and .mobi can be along for the ride. I think a great strategy would be to sponsor one of the many startup conferences. These events get a lot of coverage on social media and these are the people who will probably initiate the breakout mobi sites. Time to act mtld."

:bingo: This has been the argument all along, mtld not being active enough to better promote .mobi

:bingo::bingo:
If anyone here knows someone at mtld can you let them know.
T
However this might require them to fire their existing marketing dept and get a whole new one though.
Is mtld on this forum?

 

[scandiman]

mtld needs to target the startup guys.

Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it isn't happening.

 

[mo_dork]

Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it isn't happening.

I haven't seen it, i am looking. I read plenty of blog sites related to tech startups, social media, mobile trends and technology, everyday, I rarely see mobi in the headline.

 

[riazishere]

thanks for visit, more useful data will be there very soon.

 

[mo_dork]

thanks for visit, more useful data will be there very soon.

Your welcome

 

[dotker]

mobi wont pick up cause developers today are concentrating more and more on "device compatibility" i say websites should work well on all browsers and devices.

 

[scandiman]

I haven't seen it, i am looking. I read plenty of blog sites related to tech startups, social media, mobile trends and technology, everyday, I rarely see mobi in the headline.

I understand what you're saying, I'm referring to mTLD being receptive to start-ups, no one really knows how receptive or not they are unless you are a start-up who approaches them or if as a start-up you've been approached by them. A lot goes on hidden from public view in any private company, mTLD is no exception.

 

[mo_dork]

I understand what you're saying, I'm referring to mTLD being receptive to start-ups, no one really knows how receptive or not they are unless you are a start-up who approaches them or if as a start-up you've been approached by them. A lot goes on hidden from public view in any private company, mTLD is no exception.

Being receptive is one thing, but going out and making this happen is another. No startup should need to approach them, they should create compelling marketing strategies and get them in front of people.

mtld are doing a great job at the 'case study' and 'comprehensive tools' to help the industry. They are all about 'thorough' and 'quality', and half their PR seems to relate to awards etc, but that doesn't always cut it. We are on the slow steady organic growth path, that has served us well, creating the base of solid corporate users, now that there is content out there we need to accelerate. The clock is ticking with gtld's around the corner.

 

[labrocca]

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?

How about present day application and the current phones along with ones that are being released in the near future. lol...you're the guy that used the phone as an example. Sucks when your own argument is used against you and successfully too.

Like your assertion that geo mobile websites are the way to go.

Lots of geo site are built already for mobi. Not speculation at all. NV.mobi is a good example.

Do you CNO guys do research about the future? Sounds like you figure the future will be the same as the past and present?

Exactly. If you're basing the future 100% on speculation then it's a fantasy. You do need to view the past and present. Funny you proved my earlier points about this. Go back to my first few posts to read exactly what I said.

Thats what the newspaper guys thought up until a couple of years ago.

Awesome...you just brought up newspapers..a technology and medium that's been around hundreds of years. While print may dimimish the fact they are still posting news digitally should be an easy way to see the trend. Print still exists and it will for years to come. Many newspapers are struggling financially and some are going online 100%. The game is changing but it's still basically the same.

So if you want to take advantage of the iphone functionality for example, it has to be on the phone itself.

And how is that a problem? You can't disconnect your phone from it's application. And part of the reason phones are good sellers are because of the applications. How will that trend change?

Once we have cross platform standardization then a web based solution is superior as its easier to distribute and access.

That won't and can't happen. Client software will always be better and more powerful than internet software. That's fact.

And now that there are literally '50,000' apps on the iphone app store,

You're proving my point again. Applications are growing faster than mobi sites. People generally only visit a small set of sites. They create their favorites and repeatedly visit them.

Apps will stick around, but generally this will go web based.

How do you conclude that after everything you just stated? Apps continue to grow and yet you believe the future is mobile web based? lol...incredible.

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

And yet valuations don't reflect that. mobi might be gaining in popularity and usage. That doesn't have to translate into domain investment returns.

My best friend works for ESPN in the internet department as an annalyst, he tells me "ESPN loves it"

I agree for sports mobile applications are great. I have an awesome football one for my G1. I don't visit any mobile sites for any info. It's pulled from the internet via my application. The browser and surfing is bypassed completely.

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.

That's favorable news. Ask your buddy if he is willing to pay $xxx for a mobi domain.

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.

I agree. It's these end-user 1996-1999 sales that sparked domaining imho. Startups needed good domains to brand and have as a home. The mobi pure play startup is rare. I have yet to see one flourish. IMHO that would be better for mobi if it had a must-use mobi pure play. Something like imageshack.us or del.icio.us which both helped .us to a certain degree.

We are on the slow steady organic growth path

This is true but not the entire truth. Mobi had an extreme hype rally the first year or so then tanked. This is a discussion on valuations. While the organic growth is the way to go mobi unfortunately has been soured as an investment. Investments require long-term holders willing to also wait for that organic growth. For the most part those investors have walked away from mobi and new investors into the domain extension appear skitish to come forward. They are also not major players.

You talk about the future of mobi often and how popular it will become. You don't speak too much about it's valuation. Everyone should consider that.

 

[mo_dork]

How about present day application and the current phones along with ones that are being released in the near future. lol...you're the guy that used the phone as an example. Sucks when your own argument is used against you and successfully too.

Apps are great, you said mosty phones will be using apps and not surfing the web. I was disputing this. Not saying apps are no good.

Lots of geo site are built already for mobi. Not speculation at all. NV.mobi is a good example.

Yes but I think you were implying geo is all mobi is good for.

Exactly. If you're basing the future 100% on speculation then it's a fantasy. You do need to view the past and present. Funny you proved my earlier points about this. Go back to my first few posts to read exactly what I said.

Yes we look at the past and present but we don't assume it will continue infinitum.

Awesome...you just brought up newspapers..a technology and medium that's been around hundreds of years. While print may dimimish the fact they are still posting news digitally should be an easy way to see the trend. Print still exists and it will for years to come. Many newspapers are struggling financially and some are going online 100%. The game is changing but it's still basically the same.

Newspapers are struggling across the board. Yes the content has stayed the same. but the means of distribution has changed and the business models have changed. Something has changed forever. It was the same for hundreds of years and in the last 5 years it has changed. Some will switch to digital, some will go under, but business as usual has changed. I mentioned this regarding CNO business as usual. The web is changing, becoming mobile. Changing forever.

If you follow your thinking, and if the mobile is the primary means of accessing the web, and that we will all be using apps, then website usage will diminish. In any case you see there is room for a dramatic change in user behavior, so don't be so sure CNO will not become CNOM or CM.

have to run now...
more later

 

[plaggypig]

Apps are great, you said mosty phones will be using apps and not surfing the web. I was disputing this. Not saying apps are no good.

I'd love to see some good research on mobile usage behaviour.

But speaking purely from my own observations and that of my friends, people generally access the Internet from mobile devices to satisfy their compulsive obsessions for e-mail, news, tweeting, facebook, etc., which (on popular devices) are supported by special purpose apps that take advantage of the native mobile environment. Browsing the web or googling stuff from mobile devices does not appear to be a very common activity.

I think the reason for this difference in behaviour is a combination of factors; mobile devices are uncomfortable to use for prolonged periods of time (but perfect for quick and small tasks), mobile input methods are not perfect (improving, but can one hand ever be as fast as two?), people have a desktop as well and will choose to use the right tool for the right job.

So basically people just want an app for the things they already like doing and use desktops to discover web content.

Does this sound reasonable?

 

[mo_dork]

And how is that a problem? You can't disconnect your phone from it's application. And part of the reason phones are good sellers are because of the applications. How will that trend change?

Nothing wrong with apps, apps are great, I am working on an app related project myself, but apps are a niche compared to the web. That was my original point. You said the future of phones will predominantly be related to apps and not mobile websites. I am disputing that, I'm not saying apps aren't useful.

Apps can perform tasks that web based services cannot, but there are some limitations too, they are not as easy as websites to distribute, they often cost money, and sometimes cost money for things that are already free on the web. They require installations and updates, and they are not universal across all devices, the web is universal, anyone can access it anytime without any installations.

That won't and can't happen. Client software will always be better and more powerful than internet software. That's fact.

So what if client software is better. Better doesn't always win, convenience wins. Hence mobile phones don't have laptop sized screens. A bigger screen is better, but it doesn't fit in your pocket.So, apps are great, but so are websites, and most of what you need to do can be done online. Maybe not read your blood pressure, but we are talking about mainstream usage. If I came on this forum and said mobi is great as you can monitor your blood pressure etc, you would be saying how this is not a mainstream use...

You're proving my point again. Applications are growing faster than mobi sites. People generally only visit a small set of sites. They create their favorites and repeatedly visit them.

I doubt apps are growing faster than websites. There are substantially more than 50,000 mobile websites. Also many apps are just desktop bookmarks to an online website or service.

This is true but not the entire truth. Mobi had an extreme hype rally the first year or so then tanked. This is a discussion on valuations.

This is not a discussion on valuations, this is a discussion on the future of mobi (dead or not dead). And as discussed domianing is not just about resell valuations, its about dev potential aswell.

While the organic growth is the way to go mobi unfortunately has been soured as an investment. Investments require long-term holders willing to also wait for that organic growth. For the most part those investors have walked away from mobi and new investors into the domain extension appear skitish to come forward. They are also not major players.

The hype rally was an anomaly, I personally did not buy my domains to sell right away, I bought to develop and/or sell in a semi-mature to mature market/mobile web (in a few years). if I would sell a name to another domainer or sell before the mobile web reaches its full potential, then I have undersold.

Regarding investors walking away, I have bought a few names from some of those walking away investors. IMO for the most part I believe they are reluctant sellers due to economic circumstance. Ofcourse noone selss at the bottom of the market uunless they have to. I would imagine all sales right now are out of necessity. Its a buyers market.

---------- Post added at 06:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:27 PM ----------

I'd love to see some good research on mobile usage behaviour.

But speaking purely from my own observations and that of my friends, people generally access the Internet from mobile devices to satisfy their compulsive obsessions for e-mail, news, tweeting, facebook, etc., which (on popular devices) are supported by special purpose apps that take advantage of the native mobile environment. Browsing the web or googling stuff from mobile devices does not appear to be a very common activity.

You better hope that what you are saying is wrong otherwise all parking and, sounds like most of the web is about to die.

I think the reason for this difference in behaviour is a combination of factors; mobile devices are uncomfortable to use for prolonged periods of time (but perfect for quick and small tasks), mobile input methods are not perfect (improving, but can one hand ever be as fast as two?), people have a desktop as well and will choose to use the right tool for the right job.

So basically people just want an app for the things they already like doing and use desktops to discover web content.

Does this sound reasonable?

There is so much data on mobile usage and trends, I mean millions of pages and analytics on every aspect of mobility from every angle and every geographic regoin. It sounds like you haven't read any of it and are just speculating.
I will dig up some stats to post here. or you can too.

 

[plaggypig]

Was my post really that controversial? My observations in no way suggest the web is about to die (what on earth made you derive that?), merely that people don't access the web very much from mobile devices, and if they do it's to use sites they already know well, rather than to discover new content.

As I said, I'd like to read some proper research on the subject, so please feel free to recommend some!

 

[mediaadvantages]

labrocca, you obviously know nothing about the print business due to your comments made previously.

your comment "Awesome...you just brought up newspapers..a technology and medium that's been around hundreds of years. While print may dimimish the fact they are still posting news digitally should be an easy way to see the trend. Print still exists and it will for years to come. Many newspapers are struggling financially and some are going online 100%. The game is changing but it's still basically the same."

The game isn't even close to being the same.

1) Have you not seen the issue at hand when it comes to reporting? It has been all over the place about the average person becoming the journalist and it's killing the credibility of having an education in journalism. Newspapers are fighting this every day when you an I can witness an event and have a story on a blog before the newspapers even know about it. This is a problem that can't be fixed at the moment because our society wants it's news right away. They don't want it an hour from now, or tonight, or tomorrow.

2) For a newspaper industry to exist they must have advertising. Advertisers use the newspaper for price and item research. That currently doesn't exist with their internet sites currently. Tell me when the last time you went to your papers website to see the deals on TVs or any other product?

3) Another reason to use the paper was too reach the 35+ demographic. This isn't exactly the strongest demographic visiting their websites daily. The print demographic tends to be more educated and more disposable income than their website demographics.

4) Newspapers rely on pass along readership and a shelf life as benefits to advertisers. This isn't exactly true for their websites.

5) Geographic targeting - Using the paper I can target certain zipcodes with tab ons and inserts. This can't happen with your local sites. You pay for all viewers who see the ad whether they are in the metro area, same state or across the country.

6) Ad Sizes - Print is very good for having lots of content in your ad if need be. Try doing that in a small little banner.

Maybe you should think about what you are saying before opening your mouth and inserting your foot. "The game is changing but it's still basically the same." is NOT EVEN CLOSE to being true!!

 

[mo_dork]

Was my post really that controversial? My observations in no way suggest the web is about to die (what on earth made you derive that?), merely that people don't access the web very much from mobile devices, and if they do it's to use sites they already know well, rather than to discover new content.

As I said, I'd like to read some proper research on the subject, so please feel free to recommend some!

Maybe I lumped you in with Labrocca on this one.

So the thing is that it is becoming clear that anti mobi people on this thread aren't particularly doing their homework, just spouting forth negative assertions that need to be corrected. There is so much info out there that it is staggering. So here are a few sites to start following-

general mobile info and observations-
MobHappy

carnival of the mobilists, is a weekly sort of blog magazine round up that is hosted and curated at a site each week-
Carnival of the Mobilists

scroll down and check out the blog roll here, tonnes of mobile info-
mTrends - mobile media lifestyle - Mobile 2.0

This guy is a very respected research/writer on all things mobile, look around you will find some interesting articles-
Communities Dominate Brands

I just found this on the above site, which pretty much contradicts most of labrocca's assertions-
Survey: Mobile internet trumps desktop surfing for iPhone users:
Survey: Mobile internet trumps desktop surfing for iPhone users

This is also interesting labrocca-
Long Tail of iPhone Apps Is Extra Long — and Not In a Good Way

 

[u8l2]

This just in. GE one of the biggest issuers of credit cards have chased a dropped mobi and regged it after the previous owner let it drop. mycreditcard.mobi is now owned by GE

cheers
Rob

 

[scandiman]

This just in. GE one of the biggest issuers of credit cards have chased a dropped mobi and regged it after the previous owner let it drop. mycreditcard.mobi is now owned by GE

cheers
Rob

Based on the whois for the .com, clearly it isn't a defense reg.

 

[Fast Action Domains]

How Long Live .mobi?

I read the .mobi prices are down 89% in one year and that made me think 'how long live .mobi'. I have a number of .mobi names and this news feared me about it's future.

I ask .mobi purchase or not?

Thanks.

Fast Action Domains