.mobi .mobi Doing Much Better Than Expected

[jmcc]

I was looking at the stats for the .mobi zonefile this morning and the count was 867629. The landrush anniversary count was 959154. The difference in registration volume is 91525 domains. The volume of domains in the zone is only off by 9.54%. The Landrush anniversary was 26 September 2008 and as such the landrush in many of the newer TLDs tends to last approximately three months. During these three months the number of new registrations surges. After this initial period, the registration numbers begin to fall off.

I posted an article about this on my blog [1] but this post just summarises it. The number of domains that have dropped out of the zonefile since the landrush anniversary is 154006 but in the same time, 62481 new domains have been seen. This is lessening the effect of the Junk Dump phase when the stuff that could not be sold is dropped. Far from being a wipeout, there is still life left in .mobi.

Regards...jmcc
[1] http://blog.whoisireland.com/2008/12/31/mobi-registrations-doing-much-better-than-expected/

 

[rocknrollo]

.mobi 's time will come. Right now everything is down, mostly way down. The mobile web is getting stronger every day and there will be some huge .mobi sites that emerge and bring more awareness to the extention.
We just have to hold tight to the great names we have and the payoff will come. Although it just may be longer than we all expected.

Have a great and profitable new year.

Comming Soon Racing.mobi

 

[Blitzpotz]

You can now register .mobi for $5.99

Collegue, where can I get this price? Really interested. The best I know is $7,49 by Moniker. Thanks!

 

[Kate]

The Junk Dump isn't over yet

 

[miitree]

I noticed that godaddy.mobi redirects to godaddymobile.com . It seems that GoDaddy doesn't like the .mobi name enough to use it.

 

[mediaadvantages]

great...you made your point. i guess there is no reason for either of you naysayers to step into the .mobi section of namepros anymore.

 

[miitree]

great...you made your point. i guess there is no reason for either of you naysayers to step into the .mobi section of namepros anymore.

I'm not a nay sayer. I have many .mobi websites. I'm only pointing out the unusual URL that GoDaddy uses and am wondering why.

 

[HeyNow]

Huh?

I noticed that godaddy.mobi redirects to godaddymobile.com . It seems that GoDaddy doesn't like the .mobi name enough to use it.

You can't have it both ways. You can't say Godaddy "doesn't like the .mobi name enough to use it" and then say Godaddy is using it to redirect to godaddymobile.com. The FACT is that they ARE using godaddy.mobi. Now, you might think that redirecting the .mobi version to a longer .com version is not valid usage. To be consistent, you must think wsj.com is not valid either, because it redirects to http://online.wsj.com/public/us

 

[ecigs.net]

Some fairly large companies in Germany still use dot mobi. Both OTTO.mobi and Neckermann.mobi haven't seemed to have heard that MOBI is dead. Maybe MOBI is just dead in the USA.

 

[miitree]

You can't have it both way. You can't say Godaddy "doesn't like the .mobi name enough to use it" and then say Godaddy is using it to redirect to godaddymobile.com. The FACT is that they ARE using godaddy.mobi. Now, you might think that redirecting the .mobi version to a longer .com version is not valid usage. To be consistent, you must think wsj.com is not valid either, because it redirects to http://online.wsj.com/public/us

It doesn't make sense to me why GoDaddy would redirect away from their .mobi domain name. I think the WSJ example you gave is not quite the same. Maybe not though.

At any rate I sure hope the .mobi gets more traction than it has. I like another on this thread have been a major proponent of .mobi for over 2 years now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[jmcc]

Some fairly large companies in Germany still use dot mobi. Both OTTO.mobi and Neckermann.mobi haven't seemed to have heard that MOBI is dead. Maybe MOBI is just dead in the USA.

A very interesting point (the difference between Europe and the USA). In most of Europe, text messaging (SMS) is free. A whole generation has grown up that is accustomed to using text messaging and the use of the mobile web may be completely natural to them. The one thing that may screw it up would be if the mobile telcos charge excessively for data. But even that would work in .mobi's favour as the specification for mobi compatible websites insists on lightweight pages. Thus if a site is a .mobi and uses the .mobi specification in building webpages, it could create the idea in users that they will save money by going to a .mobi website. Then again I have the 'flu and this stream of logic could be a product of the medication.

Regards...jmcc

 

[ecigs.net]

Here's another list of some German companies that took the time to acquire their Mobi sites.

MTV.mobi - redirects to mtv.de (MTV in German)
SAT1.mobi - redirects to wap.sat1.de (German Television Station)
Pro7.mobi - redirects to wap.prosieben.de (German Television Station)
N24.mobi - redirects to wap.n24.de (Germany's version of CNN)
ASC.mobi - Technical University of Ilmenau uses this domain for their ASC (Akademisches Service Center)
Siemens.mobi - "Siemens AG is Europe's largest engineering conglomerate and the largest electronics company in the world." - Wikipedia
Opel.mobi - German car maker though the site is in English.
BMW.mobi - Germans also making cars.
Mercedes.mobi - Germans also making cars.

Lots of forward thinkers here. I guess they didn't get the "MOBI is Dead" memo. They better drop these quickly before they lose some more money.

 

[ecigs.net]

Simply point the web browser on your mobile phone to http://m.opentable.com

They also have a regular website at www.opentable.com

What do you need .mobi for ????
It is useless

Opentable.com also owns Opentable.mobi. Apparently the owners of Opentable thought it to be in their interest to secure a name in the MOBI.

I think what you mean by "worthless" is worthless to domainers. Unlike the COM tld, most business owners are not compelled to secure their name in the MOBI extension. There are options other than MOBI. Therefore, because business owners are not being held hostage to domainers, they can pass on high priced MOBIs without any harm to their business. For this reason, the standard "reg and squat" tactics of domainers doesn't work with MOBI, like it would with COM. In order for somebody to get into MOBI and make money, they have to have a concept first. Mass buying MOBI isn't a concept. Since most domainers only know how to buy and park, they only lose money with MOBI. The MOBI TLD is not made for domainers who have no concept/plan as to why they are buying/investing in the domain name. Get an idea first, then buy.

My advice, only buy what you can develope in MOBI. If you don't have any ideas or can't do the programming required, move onto easier, more parkable* TLDs like COM.

 

[HeyNow]

It doesn't make sense to me why GoDaddy would redirect away from their .mobi domain name.

Sure it makes sense. Redirecting Godaddy.mobi to a variant of Godaddy.com gives the user assurance that Godaddy.mobi is the actual Godaddy, not a spoof site.

 

[snoop]

I was looking at the stats for the .mobi zonefile this morning and the count was 867629. The landrush anniversary count was 959154. The difference in registration volume is 91525 domains. The volume of domains in the zone is only off by 9.54%. The Landrush anniversary was 26 September 2008 and as such the landrush in many of the newer TLDs tends to last approximately three months. During these three months the number of new registrations surges. After this initial period, the registration numbers begin to fall off.

9.5% is not a good result. It is possibly the biggest decline a gtld has ever seen.

As a comparison .biz dropped 9% after the anniversary, .info the same 9% - that was from the very high to the very low. Both those extensions have been flops, especially .biz.

.mobi has already exceed those levels and there is still quite alot to be worked through the systems by the sounds of it. In terms of significance a 9% in registration is huge, even during the .com bust .com registration only fell 5%, but actual values in the aftermarket fell by about 90%. When a market implodes it is followed by a much smaller fall in registrations, they are rather "sticky", some people hang on for years before being willing to let names expire.

 

[acc]

9.5% is not a good result. It is possibly the biggest decline a gtld has ever seen.

As a comparison .biz dropped 9% after the anniversary, .info the same 9% - that was from the very high to the very low. Both those extensions have been flops, especially .biz.

.mobi has already exceed those levels and there is still quite alot to be worked through the systems by the sounds of it. In terms of significance a 9% in registration is huge, even during the .com bust .com registration only fell 5%, but actual values in the aftermarket fell by about 90%. When a market implodes it is followed by a much smaller fall in registrations, they are rather "sticky", some people hang on for years before being willing to let names expire.

I think that comparison fails to take into account or even acknowledge the very difficult and extraordinary worldwide economic circumstances of 2008/2009. A little research might cause one to reconsider those conclusions.

What was the shape of the economy during the .biz and .info extensions' drop cycles? Would a 9% move in the stock market in say 2006 reflect the psycology of that market equally as a 9% slide in the market in late 2008? I don't think so. Likewise a 9% drop in registrations in 200? is not the same thing as a 9% drop in overall registrations in 2008/2009.

ALL non-essential investments are affected by a drop in available free capital. Domain names fall into the non-essential category for many names holders.

I do agree however that .biz seems to be flailing and .info is mediocre-ish. The .info registration levels are likely being propped up by their perennial $0.99-$1.99 new registration fees. The point about "sticky" hold-ons is also valid yet it is far too early to tell how that will turn out for .mobi.

Just looking at raw numbers does not tell the whole story about the viability of a domain extension. Yes this is a domainers' forum, but the analysis should not stop there. Because real live brick and mortar and online companies are registering and using .mobi domains while it apperars that they are not rushing out to do the same with .info, .biz, etc. That is a BIG difference and portends better things for .mobi going forward, IMHO.
.

 

[snoop]

I think that comparison fails to take into account or even acknowledge the very difficult and extraordinary worldwide economic circumstances of 2008/2009. A little research might cause one to reconsider those conclusions.

What was the shape of the economy during the .biz and .info extensions' drop cycles? Would a 9% move in the stock market in say 2006 reflect the psycology of that market equally as a 9% slide in the market in late 2008? I don't think so. Likewise a 9% drop in registrations in 200? is not the same thing as a 9% drop in overall registrations in 2008/2009.

ALL non-essential investments are affected by a drop in available free capital. Domain names fall into the non-essential category for many names holders.

You can always argue "it is different this time" but at the end of the day it is a massive drop compared to other extensions. How was the economy during the dot com bust?

One thing that definitely hasn't changed is that it takes some people years to fully appreciate the situation. People argued about .biz and .info for a long time after they flopped.

Just looking at raw numbers does not tell the whole story about the viability of a domain extension. Yes this is a domainers' forum, but the analysis should not stop there. Because real live brick and mortar and online companies are registering and using .mobi domains while it apperars that they are not rushing out to do the same with .info, .biz, etc. That is a BIG difference and portends better things for .mobi going forward, IMHO.
.

Once you stop looking at the raw numbers it just becomes opinion, at that point all the dubious arguments come out, like this one "Because real live brick and mortar and online companies are registering and using .mobi domains"- How many times has that been said about new extensions? bbc.tv, del.ico.us, mta.info anyone? The success of .mobi can easily be guaged in the numbers, reg volumes, sales prices, it is probably the biggest bust the domain industry has ever seen in terms of the size of the falls. Look at the sales prices, 3 letter .mobi's are now selling for less than .biz's, that is saying something about the confidence people have in this extension.

 

[acc]

You can always argue "it is different this time" but at the end of the day it is a massive drop compared to other extensions. How was the economy during the dot com bust? .... Once you stop looking at the raw numbers it just becomes opinion, at that point all the dubious arguments come out, like this one "Because real live brick and mortar and online companies are registering and using .mobi domains"- How many times has that been said about new extensions? bbc.tv, del.ico.us, mta.info anyone? The success of .mobi can easily be guaged in the numbers, reg volumes, sales prices, it is probably the biggest bust the domain industry has ever seen in terms of the size of the falls. Look at the sales prices, 3 letter .mobi's are now selling for less than .biz's, that is saying something about the confidence people have in this extension.

No matter what side of the pro/con .mobi side you fall on ... no objective discussion can just dismiss the FACT that there has been a sharp cutback in discretionary spending throughout the world in late 2008 into early 2009. And it is MUCH, MUCH larger in magnitude than during the dot com bust.

To compare the 2008/2009 drop cycle numbers of the still-new .mobi today to the .com drop cycles numbers of 2000/2001 given the established nature of the extension is not an "apples to apples" comparison ... (comparatively .com had a decade+ longer head start in its acceptance and application)

Your .biz/.info comparison is closer to being in the "ballpark" of a valid comparison for discussion purposes but your refusal to admit the seriousness and uniqueness of the current economic conditions and their effect on the likelihood of discretionary domain name renewal decisions - AT THE TIME - casts a shadow over your argument and the relevancy of the stats that you originally cited.

Without taking into account the domainers' investing backdrop of the time, your citing of those "9%", 9.5%" , etc. drop stats in such a vacuum makes them just as much "opinion" in this discussion as any other opinions expressed in this thread. "Lies, damn lies, and statistics" ... to paraphrase ... Mark Twain ...

How can one refuse to admit into evidence for this discussion the FACTS? ...
When the anniversary drops happened for .biz (2004) and .info (2003), the general state of the world economy at those times provided far more freed up capital to be spent on speculative renewal fees than in late 2008 and now into early 2009 when the .mobi anniversary drop period is happening

You are the one that brought up the comparison of the NOW 2 yr anniversary .mobi drop cycle with the THEN .biz and THEN .info drops cycles. You CAN NOT draw an accurate and valid comparison without taking into account everything that causes the level of drops ... or ... the level of registrations for that matter.

For example, if .info registrations cost $1.99 each and .mobi registrations cost $7.99 each ... given EVERYTHING else being equal ... which do you think would see more raw number of registrations? And because today a domainer could register 4 times as many $1.99 names as $7.99 names does that mean the $1.99 extension is "better" and will be more "successful"? ... "Better" how? ... and "Successful" at what? You can't compare it until you see the results of all those registrations enough years down the road to erase such pricing discrepancy or other dissimilar market factors.

Aside from food, shelter, clothing, transportation and a few other necessities everything else is optional. The .mobi anniversary drop cycle has come directly during the trough of a great worldwide economic downturn, largest in a half century. For one to say that that has no bearing on the reinvestment of speculative funds (which is what most of a DOMAINERS' reg/renewal fees are in ANY extension) today compared to 5 years ago or 10 years ago is ... is ... well ignoring reality is what it is.
.

 

[mo_dork]

Also, .info .biz etc were born into the established market of the pc web with known usage and demand. The mobile web is still in its infancy, the real development of this medium has yet to occur. thus the heyday of dotmobi lies in the future not the present.

 

[Kate]

Q: Why did .mobi take a dive ?
A: "It's the economy, stupid" :lol:

 

[mediaadvantages]

what naysayers seem to not understand, is that .mobi is a developers extension. the names you see being dropped are by domainers who couldn't flip them. you don't see existing companies deciding they don't want them and letting them drop. when you start seeing bestbuy, foxnews and other respectable companies drop their .mobis you can actually talk about how .mobi is dead. until then go back to doing whatever you do because your points are useless.

 

[snoop]

No matter what side of the pro/con .mobi side you fall on ... no objective discussion can just dismiss the FACT that there has been a sharp cutback in discretionary spending throughout the world in late 2008 into early 2009. And it is MUCH, MUCH larger in magnitude than during the dot com bust.

The thing is the dot com bust was well...the .com bust. It was a massive bust in the exact area of these domains, so for .com to have fallen then by 5%, whilst right now .mobi is already down by 9.5%, that paints a very bad picture. It would be better admit the reality of what is happening rather than going around thinking up excuses/justifications etc.

To compare the 2008/2009 drop cycle numbers of the still-new .mobi today to the .com drop cycles numbers of 2000/2001 given the established nature of the extension is not an "apples to apples" comparison ... (comparatively .com had a decade+ longer head start in its acceptance and application)

.com is successful so let's not compare it to .mobi, c'mon, they are both domain extensions, these are hardly different types of assets that can't be compared.

Your .biz/.info comparison is closer to being in the "ballpark" of a valid comparison for discussion purposes but your refusal to admit the seriousness and uniqueness of the current economic conditions and their effect on the likelihood of discretionary domain name renewal decisions - AT THE TIME - casts a shadow over your argument and the relevancy of the stats that you originally cited.

Who is saying the current situation isn't serious? The thing I don't get is how you think this somehow means a 9.5% fall is less significant?

Without taking into account the domainers' investing backdrop of the time, your citing of those "9%", 9.5%" , etc. drop stats in such a vacuum makes them just as much "opinion" in this discussion as any other opinions expressed in this thread. "Lies, damn lies, and statistics" ... to paraphrase ... Mark Twain ...

It is simply numbers, fact not opinion, statistics based on registration numbers from Zooknic.

http://www.zooknic.com/Domains/counts.html

How can one refuse to admit into evidence for this discussion the FACTS? ...
When the anniversary drops happened for .biz (2004) and .info (2003), the general state of the world economy at those times provided far more freed up capital to be spent on speculative renewal fees than in late 2008 and now into early 2009 when the .mobi anniversary drop period is happening

How does this help .mobi? A bust is a bust, no matter what exceptions/excuses/obfuscations are brought up.

You are the one that brought up the comparison of the NOW 2 yr anniversary .mobi drop cycle with the THEN .biz and THEN .info drops cycles. You CAN NOT draw an accurate and valid comparison without taking into account everything that causes the level of drops ... or ... the level of registrations for that matter.

I don't need to take anything "into account", the numbers tell the story. 9.5% registration loss so far, 90%-100% value drop. Unlike the OP who said this was a good result my point was it actually looks like the worst result on record for a gtld and it isn't over yet.

For example, if .info registrations cost $1.99 each and .mobi registrations cost $7.99 each ... given EVERYTHING else being equal ... which do you think would see more raw number of registrations? And because today a domainer could register 4 times as many $1.99 names as $7.99 names does that mean the $1.99 extension is "better" and will be more "successful"? ... "Better" how? ... and "Successful" at what? You can't compare it until you see the results of all those registrations enough years down the road to erase such pricing discrepancy or other dissimilar market factors.

What does all that have to do with .mobi?

Aside from food, shelter, clothing, transportation and a few other necessities everything else is optional. The .mobi anniversary drop cycle has come directly during the trough of a great worldwide economic downturn, largest in a half century. For one to say that that has no bearing on the reinvestment of speculative funds (which is what most of a DOMAINERS' reg/renewal fees are in ANY extension) today compared to 5 years ago or 10 years ago is ... is ... well ignoring reality is what it is.
.

Not sure what you are talking about with all that as obviously it has a had a huge effect. The recession making the degree of the falls even worse isn't a plus for .mobi.

what naysayers seem to not understand, is that .mobi is a developers extension. the names you see being dropped are by domainers who couldn't flip them. you don't see existing companies deciding they don't want them and letting them drop. when you start seeing bestbuy, foxnews and other respectable companies drop their .mobis you can actually talk about how .mobi is dead. until then go back to doing whatever you do because your points are useless.

Extensions become "developers" extensions when the domainers leave the building. People say the same thing about .tv, "no money in it, lots of money down the drain, ok this is a developers extension!".

Also, .info .biz etc were born into the established market of the pc web with known usage and demand. The mobile web is still in its infancy, the real development of this medium has yet to occur. thus the heyday of dotmobi lies in the future not the present.

Any excuse will do.....

 

[scandiman]

Once you stop looking at the raw numbers it just becomes opinion......The success of .mobi can easily be guaged in the numbers, reg volumes, sales prices, it is probably the biggest bust the domain industry has ever seen in terms of the size of the falls.

Since you are so keen on numbers can you back this opinion up with facts?

Look at the sales prices, 3 letter .mobi's are now selling for less than .biz's, that is saying something about the confidence people have in this extension.

Domain speculators aren't interested in random LLL.mobi... oh the horror 8^X

 

[mjnels]

i deleted some LLL.mobi this morning.... the buyout no longer holds

TYW.mobi
JJL.mobi
LVY.mobi

all available to reg.









.....



*edit*

heyyyyy... someone reg'd em.. they sat available for around 2 hours... but i am the controller of all things LLL.mobi!

TDV.mobi, HQC.mobi, ZFB.mobi now available to register! muhahahahahha


the buyout is again, officially not held.







.....



*edit again*


heyyyyy no fair, someone ran a scan on the rest i just deleted.

this is funny, considering i had an auction up for 50 LLL.mobi's at regfee yesterday that ended with 0 bids.





.....





*and edit again*


UPZ.mobi now available to reg..... BOOYA!





.....





*and edit again, again*

you guys are getting faster... but now i must offset the buyout again... POOF, FZU.mobi now available to register.

 

[snoop]

Since you are so keen on numbers can you back this opinion up with facts?

I have already presented data about that, .mobi regitrations are down 9.5% so far, I have not heard of a bigger fall from a gtld ever, .com fell 5% during the bust, .biz and .info fell 9% after landrush. Prices are down 90% at the top end eg games.mobi and the bottom end looks to be more like 100% falls.

Domain speculators aren't interested in random LLL.mobi... oh the horror 8^X

I'm not sure I get you, in any healthy extension domainers are interested in 3 letter names.

i deleted some LLL.mobi this morning.... the buyout no longer holds

TYW.mobi
JJL.mobi
LVY.mobi

all available to reg.

Thanks for the info, sad but not really surprising either. I would think countless buyout are likely to fail, maybe all of them from the last couple of years except LLLL.com.