.mobi The .MOBI type-in traffic myth

[RJ]

".MOBI domains with type-in traffic? Oh come on."

I was skeptical about MOBI domains receiving type-in traffic too. It's pretty much common knowledge that the only TLD that receives any significant type-in traffic is DotCOM.

Then I realized that one of the main goals of MOBI is encouraging parallel development alongside existing non-MOBI sites. Type-ins are inevitable. It makes sense that web visitors are going to type in the .MOBI version of an existing site to see if a mobile version exists.

.COM has always benefited by receiving fallover typo traffic from developed non-COM domains making it dangerous to develop and brand your business on anything other than a .COM. People are conditioned to typing in .COM.

Along comes MOBI, which could be the first TLD in history that turns the table and gains significant fallover traffic from .COM and will continue to as MOBI gains more widespread use. People will be conditioned to typing in .MOBI.

Those of you that own MOBIs that correspond with high traffic non-MOBI are going to reap the benefits of this side effect. I'm interested to know if you already are, and which domains (if you don't mind sharing).

RJ

 

[ezinaz]

".MOBI domains with type-in traffic? Oh come on."

I was skeptical about MOBI domains receiving type-in traffic too. It's pretty much common knowledge that the only TLD that receives any significant type-in traffic is DotCOM.

Then I realized that one of the main goals of MOBI is encouraging parallel development alongside existing non-MOBI sites. Type-ins are inevitable. It makes sense that web visitors are going to type in the .MOBI version of an existing site to see if a mobile version exists.

.COM has always benefited by receiving fallover typo traffic from developed non-COM domains making it dangerous to develop and brand your business on anything other than a .COM. People are conditioned to typing in .COM.

Along comes MOBI, which could be the first TLD in history that turns the table and gains significant fallover traffic from .COM and will continue to as MOBI gains more widespread use. People will be conditioned to typing in .MOBI.

Those of you that own MOBIs that correspond with high traffic non-MOBI are going to reap the benefits of this side effect. I'm interested to know if you already are, and which domains (if you don't mind sharing).

RJ

Personally I feel that a good percentage of type-in traffic at this stage of the game is from fellow domainers looking to see if the domain is available or checking on the development of the site. Most regular people (not saying domainers are irregular :hehe still are not aware of the .mobi extension. You have highlighted a very critical factor for dot mobi, which is whether or not people will be conditioned to typing in ".mobi" on their mobile browser. I believe that it is too early to make that call, and I currently give this only a 1 in 5 chance of happening.

An even more important development would be for the mobile industry to default to .mobi as the extension, so that a person could just type in "toys" and it would go to "toys.mobi". At this stage of the game, this is a pipe dream.

At the risk of agreeing with Jeff , I'm going to say that the only way for any of this to happen is to make sure that the most compelling web sites are suffixed with the .mobi extension early in the game, so that the "branding" springboards .mobi in front of the public eye. We need about 500 more Bank of Americas for this to have a chance to occur.

.mobi developers at this stage of the game have the advantage, in my opinion, because their sole focus is on mobile sites.

 

[sags]

Mobi is a pain for the owners of large, valuable .com domains collections.

If it becomes widely accepted, they will lose traffic to the mobi domains.

If it isn't accepted, the mtld registry is likely to simply allow full website development so mobi can transition into another tld. I doubt the registry will decide to forgo the huge amount of cash they would derive from auctioning off their long list of premium keyword domains.

Either way, the few .com owners who rule the internet will no longer have the whole pie to themselves.

Small wonder they get so excited at the mere mention of mobi.

Regards,

Sags

 

[-REECE-]

Mobi is a pain for the owners of large, valuable .com domains collections.

If it becomes widely accepted, they will lose traffic to the mobi domains.

If it isn't accepted, the mtld registry is likely to simply allow full website development so mobi can transition into another tld. I doubt the registry will decide to forgo the huge amount of cash they would derive from auctioning off their long list of premium keyword domains.

Either way, the few .com owners who rule the internet will no longer have the whole pie to themselves.

Small wonder they get so excited at the mere mention of mobi.

Regards,

Sags

I really don't see .mobi affecting .com all that much. I see it more as that they will miss out on the additional revenue they could earn when people try to access their site via their mobile. If someone's looking for Danisco's antioxidants.com and wonders if they can access it on their mobile, it won't take them long to realize that Danisco doesn't own the .mobi and that this information isn't what they're interested in. Will we get some of their traffic? Definitely. Will most of it be targeted? No, IMO. That's not to say that some Danisco customers (in my case) wouldn't be interested in my site, I may get some repeat visitors, of course -- merely that Danisco would be better served by the .mobi than me. What does this mean to .mobi domains? IMO, less value to parkers, more value to those whose domains in .com are owned by large corporations, should .mobi become the accepted mobile standard.

 

[cyberken13]

I have had hits on nearly all of the 50 stateof**.mobi's in my portfolio and some of my Geos. At this stage I would imagine that is mostly from people who are shopping for .mobi names. I remain firmly embedded in the .com space as it will remain the most recognized extension for many years to come. It is very true that there is inherent spillover traffic from other extensions to the .com because that is the extension that everyone knows. With that said, I think .mobi does have an opportunity to be successful as a parallel extension for Mobile devices.

.COM reached the level of recognition it has now because of branding and I think that could very well be one of the biggest reasons the Mobile industry started .mobi, so that they could have their own branding for "Internet Mobility". Yet, they do understand how important it is to have content for users to reach and that is why they've invested so much into helping .mobi owners to develop.

Note: FiftyStates.mobi is a project that we will be tackling in the near future.

 

[gou]

Interesting thought, RJ.
I don't think anyone is getting a significant amount of type-in traffic yet, but it's certainly possible if .mobi ever becomes known outside of the domainers community.

 

[Jo]

RJ (and anyone interested) I'd like to share my AWstats. I've taken screen shots of the browsers visiting my developed sites so far this year if you want to check them out:

beloved

measurements

pokerhands

sunsigns

thrillers

 

[VisionEdger]

I think alot of people will locate mobi sites on their pc's when not on the road so to speak and add to their favourites on the mobile unit if they like the site.

 

[-REECE-]

RJ (and anyone interested) I'd like to share my AWstats. I've taken screen shots of the browsers visiting my developed sites so far this year if you want to check them out:

beloved

measurements

pokerhands

sunsigns

thrillers

Awesome My stats are mainly mobile also: www.antimatter.mobi

 

[Jo]

Awesome My stats are mainly mobile also: www.antimatter.mobi

Yes I was quite surprised when I saw all the mobile traffic. I was thinking it was going to be a lot of internet traffic. It's lovely. :D