.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/

 

[gladdy]

Iam not sure about it, just saw it at Sedo recent sales today.

Just saw that one, was it one of the premium .mobi auctions? I thought I had seen that sold before.

 

[scandiman]

Extensions don't collapse because of "naysayers"...The reason why prices have collapsed is because .mobi buyers have left the building.

Don't underestimate yourself snoop, I'm sure a lot of domain speculators have shied away from .mobi due to the relentless assault on .mobi in the domain forums in general and here at NP specifically. You, Jeff, Labrocca and many others have kept up the assault since the beginning. That's why some people here are being thankful, because the pricing for high quality acquisitions has been lower than we could have imagined. So continue your rants, it's turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

 

[Kate]

Don't underestimate yourself snoop, I'm sure a lot of domain speculators have shied away from .mobi due to the relentless assault on .mobi in the domain forums in general and here at NP specifically. You, Jeff, Labrocca and many others have kept up the assault since the beginning.

Seriously...
I always do my research before I decide to invest in a particular extension.
I don't care what people think. If you base your purchases upon somebody else's opinion maybe you need to find another hobby :tu:

On the other hand I am sure that quite a few newbies got burnt badly with .mobi (or .asia or .me...) thanks to the fanatical hype and pressure from their peers :imho:

 

[HeyNow]

Don't underestimate yourself snoop, ... You, Jeff, Labrocca and many others have kept up the assault since the beginning. That's why some people here are being thankful, because the pricing for high quality acquisitions has been lower than we could have imagined. So continue your rants, it's turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

I don't think it's a "blessing in disguise", because the transparency of their .com bias detracts from their credibility, thus making their opinions, skewed facts, and other BS mostly inconsequential, and also mundanely predictable. In other words, their views just aren't important. What we're dealing with here is people who feel they must stomp out every smoldering ember which may eventually flame up and engulf whatever TLD they feel they must protect. The truth is they cannot influence things measurably one way or another.

So don't worry so much about snoop, domosapien, labrocca, raider, and the other self-serving bunch of whiner/basher hybrids, because corporate America doesn't seem to give a hoot about their opinions.

Lots of major companies are hyping their .mobi URL. Some may redirect to a lengthy .com, but they're not hyping the lengthy .com. They're hyping the .mobi.

 

[mwzd]

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

If you can't sell them, they're worthless.

I just bought some lll.mobi, lets see if and for how much they sell for. Kinda doubtful with 4k more dropping soon.

 

[mjnels]

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

If you can't sell them, they're worthless.

I just bought some lll.mobi, lets see if and for how much they sell for. Kinda doubtful with 4k more dropping soon.

that test has already taken place... and before the namepros live auction i had the same lot on ebay for $9ea and they didnt sell.

i really think in the future this will change... i mean, even LLL.biz are sold out. the LLL.mobi buyout will happen again... i probably wont be the one to do it, but someone will.

 

[mwzd]

I've never ever received full value for individual domains in a lot. But maybe thats just me.

What i do make a decent profit on is buying lots and breaking them up for resale... first time I'm trying with .mobi... not that I have too high hopes but the price was too nice to let it go.

Will know soon enough won't we...

 

[mjnels]

very true about lots... in fact i sold many of those for $20-40 individually within the last week even..

flipping LLL.mobi for a profit is pretty tough now though... we've come way way down from the peak of $200+ minimum or whatever it was... but i really really feel the buyout will happen again and hopefully it is more spread out than one owner having 4,000...

 

[Kate]

I don't think it's a "blessing in disguise", because the transparency of their .com bias detracts from their credibility, thus making their opinions, skewed facts, and other BS mostly inconsequential, and also mundanely predictable.

I hope you will spare me the .com bias as my portfolio spans over 20 different TLDs and I'm not talking about .cc or .vg domains :blink:

In other words, their views just aren't important. What we're dealing with here is people who feel they must stomp out every smoldering ember which may eventually flame up and engulf whatever TLD they feel they must protect.

Typical 'siege mentality' :]

The truth is they cannot influence things measurably one way or another.

So what are you afraid of ?
Don't blame the skeptics for the demise of any TLD. It's not fair.

 

[gr8trfoo]

I just bought my first .mobi last month, a very popular adult term, pure. It got all of 4 visits in the last 30 days. I'll hang on to this one just for the hell of it. It was only 40 bucks. Probably would have sold for low xx,xxx after Rick S dropped his famous wad on Flowers and all the me-too's jumped in with both feet. That guy could start wearing a gold-plated turd around his neck and the next month a hundred others would be sportin one too.

It may be possible to make a buck using on of these. To the extent it is then thats how valuable they are. I suspect it would be easier to make money using another TLD, one that made sense to avg users becasue theres a definite lack of brand-recognition. .Mobi seems meaningless. I have strong doubts that any substantial portion of the world will ever think of .mobi as something where a website should be. It could happen but it hasnt started yet and the supposed backers have yet to do anything tangible on that score. I have heard that Google gives .mobi's a slight preference.

Of course a lot of companies are going to snag "their" .mobi - and most redirect it. No one wants to get burned again. That hardly makes this a "developers extension". WTF does that even mean? This domain is a solution looking for a problem. Wheres the need?

So I have one .mobi now. Unless I can get more pure one word generic terms for xx then I wont be buying anymore. And even if I can I'll be holding on pretty tight to the wallet. I'll have to like the name a lot. Send me your offers. LOL.

 

[HeyNow]

So what are you afraid of? Don't blame the skeptics for the demise of any TLD. It's not fair.

No blame from me. On the contrary, I clealy stated opinions and predictions here have close to zero influence one way or another. They only serve to stir the pot and frustrate the opposite side.

 

[mo_dork]

That hardly makes this a "developers extension". WTF does that even mean? This domain is a solution looking for a problem. Wheres the need?

The need is 3 Billion new web users over the next decade, the majority of them accessing the web via their phones. The web in 10 years will not look like today's web! So many new services, technologies, possibilities, so many new websites. Even ICANN sees the need for new TLDs.

Mobi is on track to grow as the technology and whole mobile ecosystem grows. Mobi brand awareness, mobile content development, mobile web penetration, mobile industry standards, will all mature together. There isn't barely any content on the mobile web yet, so no mass market awareness of mobi. Its still very early days. People are judging mobi like its a mature industry. The party didn't even start yet.

 

[mwzd]

Typical 'siege mentality' :]

I'm going to have to agree with this. Whats worse is people are still trying to flog a dead horse.

If the domains are not worth even reg fee, why are some 'promoters' regging them and selling them to artificially float the usage?

Its a case of do as i say, don't do as i do :D, basically anyone who's buying mobi today is just another patsy... like me :lol:

 

[James]

Whats worse is people are still trying to flog a dead horse.

I love the way you word things. LOL


Maybe .mobi need a new slogan and marketing, hire me.

Heres a slogan for you.
'. Mobi - Come flog the dead horse'

 

[mjnels]

I'm going to have to agree with this. Whats worse is people are still trying to flog a dead horse.

If the domains are not worth even reg fee, why are some 'promoters' regging them and selling them to artificially float the usage?

Its a case of do as i say, don't do as i do :D, basically anyone who's buying mobi today is just another patsy... like me :lol:

it is silly to say all .mobi domains are not worth reg-fee... that is a blanket statement.

and i am a bit confused what you mean by 'promoters regging them and selling them to artificially float the usage'... i believe they would be called 'domainers' and they register them and sell them to make a profit.

 

[snoop]

I don't think it's a "blessing in disguise", because the transparency of their .com bias detracts from their credibility, thus making their opinions, skewed facts, and other BS mostly inconsequential, and also mundanely predictable. In other words, their views just aren't important. What we're dealing with here is people who feel they must stomp out every smoldering ember which may eventually flame up and engulf whatever TLD they feel they must protect. The truth is they cannot influence things measurably one way or another.

So don't worry so much about snoop, domosapien, labrocca, raider, and the other self-serving bunch of whiner/basher hybrids, because corporate America doesn't seem to give a hoot about their opinions.

Lots of major companies are hyping their .mobi URL. Some may redirect to a lengthy .com, but they're not hyping the lengthy .com. They're hyping the .mobi.

Regarding bias etc everyone is going to be "biased" towards what they think will do best, so to suggest people are saying .mobi will do badly because they own other extension isn't saying much...it is obvious. If I thought .mobi would do well I'd be buying a bunch of .mobi. Actually I am mildly negative on the market generally as I have been for about a year, including the precious .com. (I bought a grand total of one domain in 2008 and sold several dozen).

As far as corporate America is concerned it isn't hard to see what they are using, just look in Google for the mobile sites or major corporates, they are mainly using sub domains of existing sites and auto detect, tld neutral really. .mobi has a small chunk of the mobile URL market, and I don't think that market share is growing.

The whole idea of naysaying causing price falls that some suggest is a bit of dated argument that I have seen about a few segments of the domain market lately, LLLL.com in particular. Some of the cheerleaders say the naysayers are idiots, that is until the market does actually crash, then they "the naysayers weren't right it is just that people listen to them". It is a bit like people who blame short sellers for the stockmarket crash. At some point in time people need to accept the reality of the market and why it has crashed.

 

[HeyNow]

At some point in time people need to accept the reality of the market and why it has crashed.

Keep smoking whatever it is you're smoking. The REALITY is that the market for everything from cars to homes to domains to eating-out in restaurants is depressed. The REALITY is that most people don't have any money to spend on anything except the bare essentials. Screwing around with domain speculation is not essential.

 

[-REECE-]

Yeah that pretty much sounds like reality to me :imho:

I did the last of my speculative buying this fall... No more.

Mobi has fallen harder than most things, however I think most people who did invest in the extension knew the risks were high. Kind of like LLLL.com, .me, etc -- anything unproven is going to have more risk but also the potential for more reward. Pretty much nobody gets rich buying .coms today unless they were rich to begin with, so if you ever want to get there with domains, you're going to have to take big risks. This one hasn't panned out so well for most of us and I don't think many people are in any position to place large sums of money in speculative domains at this time, which is no doubt further fueling the decline.

The REALITY is that the market for everything from cars to homes to domains to eating-out in restaurants is depressed. The REALITY is that most people don't have any money to spend on anything except the bare essentials. Screwing around with domain speculation is not essential.

 

[snoop]

Keep smoking whatever it is you're smoking. The REALITY is that the market for everything from cars to homes to domains to eating-out in restaurants is depressed. The REALITY is that most people don't have any money to spend on anything except the bare essentials. Screwing around with domain speculation is not essential.

How many markets can you think of that have fallen 90%-100% like the .mobi market has? This isn't just a fall due to the economy.

so if you ever want to get there with domains, you're going to have to take big risks. This one hasn't panned out so well for most of us and I don't think many people are in any position to place large sums of money in speculative domains at this time, which is no doubt further fueling the decline.

This sounds desperate to me, in my view people should be looking for low risk investments right now, not taking "big risks". Investments that can make money via cashflows rather than guessing on the direction of the market.

 

[HeyNow]

How many markets can you think of that have fallen 90%-100% like the .mobi market has? This isn't just a fall due to the economy.

Really? Are registrars charging 90% - 100% less than they did during landrush and thereafter?