.mobi Small question to everybody but mainly to .mobi skeptics?

[fautebol]

There has been a lot of discussion about the future of .mobi. I don't want to stard a new thread about why .mobi would succeed or not, about the necessity of marketing or about the price of .mobi names.

I would simply like to know if last year you expected:
- more developped .mobi sites and use of a .mobi address by developped sites in around May 2007 than there has been now;
- less;
- the same.

To me there has been more sites (or it has been quicker) than I expected.

 

[Jasdon]

The growth, and by that I mean the traffic I'm seeing, is far in advance of what I expected at this stage.

I didn't really have any pre-conceived ideas on how many 'big' sites would be live by now, but I didn't expect to have so many parked names making money by now.

 

[mobidick]

The number of regs and especially Corp. sites branding with .mobi is very nice surprise at this early stage - exceeded my expectations so far.

I now predict, that within a year you will see many many, if not most, large corps (with mobile content) having their mobi site up, even if it is just to redirect to their .com mobile offerings.

I am working on speeding this along - anyone interested please go to this thread for more: http://www.namepros.com/dot-mobi/331955-taking-the-bull-by-the-mobis.html

 

[-REECE-]

The amount of regs hasn't surprised me whatsoever... It's actually a bit lower than what I thought we'd be at by now. Looking at .eu, regs don't mean all that much, however. As for corporations, I've been pleasantly surprised to see some "real backers", rather than the joke mtld's orginal ones have turned out to be. Doesn't really matter -- American Idol can promote .mobi just as well as Google if they really wanted to.

The future is going to be interesting -- that's for sure.

 

[labrocca]

hmm...such a loaded question so I must answer carefully.

As a bonafide and certified mobi skeptic...here is my response.

I didn't really see the point of mobi nor the reason for all it's hype in the early phases. I understood it's potential but felt it was more of a long shot and the more I investigated the less I liked. I grabbed a few..just in case then I waited and I didn't like what I saw almost immediately. What I didn't like was that last year there was a misconception that mTLD was somehow different. That it was smart and it wasn't even caring about domainers. They appeared cautious and yet they took some good initiative to release mobi properly.

Since the first month I just have yet to be impressed overall by mobi. I think the recent bofa news might be the best news to date concerning mobi. Yet this information does little to help average domainers. If a few big corps like the NBA or BOA create cut-down versions of their sites that's fine but I don't see large marketing efforts to the general public. Normal responses to the skepticism is that it's too early for that. I disagree.

By now...I was expecting mobi and it's rather well-known backers that control the mobile industry would be doing a LOT more to push mobi. No announcements have been made from mTLD that are noteworthy. imho they have dropped the ball.

RFP...do I really need to say more? Nothing could be more dissappointing than their execution of this process which imho was vital to mobi and mTLDs credibility.

Now here is the million dollar question..what do I expect from the next year?

More of the same. Somewhere along the line RFP will break totally. I expect domainers to continue trying to push mobi and many becoming disenchanted because there are no sales of mid-small domains that really are the bread and butter of average domainers. I see over the next year interest being lost in mobi as new extensions will be gearing up and domainers move on to greener pastures. If there is one lesson in mobi..it's that you need to get in early and get the best possible names you can.

 

[scandiman]

If there is one lesson in mobi..it's that you need to get in early and get the best possible names you can.

I thought this lesson was taught in .com but maybe I am wrong.

 

[fautebol]

Thanks guys for your answers...

hmm...such a loaded question so I must answer carefully.

No need to be careful to me...

When the discussion moves to something like see I was right and you were wrong, when people want mainly to be right, it indeed does not interest me anymore...I have learnt about .mobi quite late (in mid October). Thus, I was a total newbie and simply registered around 50 names. Even if .mobi becomes really important, I won't make a fortune out of it...But, to me development and use of .mobi by some firms has exceeded my expectations.

It speaks to me a lot more than sales prices between domainers, because I don't want to rely on other people speculation (whatever genius they are) for long term prospects ..Now, I want to keep my feet on the ground. It's why I'm more interested in .mobi skeptics answers to see if this is what people expected or it has also exceeded what they thought...

Regarding marketing I have always been undecided whether it would start gradually or whether there would be nothing for a while and a big effort at the same time...Mobile manufacturers often try to find something to make people change phones...But it's speculation (note however that the only person I asked and knew about .mobi heard it from the marketing of a big mobile company)...

 

[mobidick]

I see over the next year interest being lost in mobi as new extensions will be gearing up and domainers move on to greener pastures.

.mobi is not a domainers extension now(and won't be for a few years), until the mobile internet reaches mainstream adoption here in NA. Corporate adoption / branding first, followed by public awareness, more widespread marketing, etc.

Regarding marketing I have always been undecided whether it would start gradually or whether there would be nothing for a while and a big effort at the same time...

If you already have the content, and a competent developers, then a decent .mobi site can be put up in 1 or 2 weeks and even less, if you already have mobilized content sitting on yourdomain.com/mobile.

Now if you are a company with a TM .mobi just sitting there, it seems to me to be a no-brainer to make it functional so as not to lose any possible customers. Marketing depts first need to discover .mobi, who will chat with VP of marketing, who will put the request in to the CIO who will overule the "we don't need mobi, because look we can autodetect and redirect to our m.subdomain" techies.

As .mobi branding gathers momentum, eventually critical mass of public/marketing awareness will create a .mobi boom
- think exponential, not linear, as our Yelo used to say. It's like the world's historical population chart, and .mobi is somewhere in the 19th century equivalent.

 

[labrocca]

.mobi is not a domainers extension now(and won't be for a few years),

I don't agree with that statement. Half-millions registrations...that sounds an aweful lot like it's domainer speculation to me.

 

[Mark]

If there is one lesson in mobi..it's that you need to get in early and get the best possible names you can.

I thought this lesson was taught in .com but maybe I am wrong.

Perhaps if you mean by the TOP Traffic names or Sales ? But not overall - There are 2 word,3 word, and even longer domains still available that will more than pay for themselves and turn profit in .com (As well as other extensions). Not to mention there are "New" things for people to search for Everyday - Technologies / Fads / News stories etc ...

I might not be turning every .com over for a huge profit (I don't advertise many for sale anyway - prefer to hold) - But I've turned over some Decent ROI's on the ones I have sold.

 

[mobidick]

I don't agree with that statement. Half-millions registrations...that sounds an aweful lot like it's domainer speculation to me.

You're right - allow me to rephrase/expand... what I meant to say was:
If you think that .mobi is a domainers' extension now, look down the road a few years when mobile internet reaches mainstream, .mobi becomes a household word and mobi sites roll in big-time traffic... the ppc engines fill up their mobile inventory, and .mobi monetization goes into full-swing...

The other aspect to this is the generic premium and geo names that were held back from domainers as well as the coding restrictions / potential of mTLD to unplug non-conforming sites, the lengthy sunrise period, and the 2-year landrush minimum reg period... all factors discouraging many domainers.

Of course there will always be domain speculators who will jump in where there is an new tld virtual realestate opportunity, especially early on when generics can be had at reg fee.

But so far many big domainers, like Frank and Kevin, are taking a wait and see approach.

:imho:

I almost forgot... if any major phone makers / mobile browsers / big mobile search engines favor .mobi in any significant way - watch out!!