.mobi The mobile internet is not there yet, you thoughts?

[Traveler]

I think most of the people here think that the mobile internet is the next big thing. I am one of those people, but my tiny efforts in mobile development lead me to belive the mobile web really doesn't exist just yet.

There is some content out there, but not so many users in my opinion. I have some .mobi names that I want to develope but I'm wondering if my development efforts would be better spent on the "pc" web.

What do you think? Is it really worth spending the time to develope a really nice mobile website or would a person get a better return on there efforts by developing a .com site for the pc web?

 

[Keith]

I think dev. for the mobile web is money in your pocket. We are lucky to be amongst the first to know about .mobi. It's all about vision, you cant wait until the whole world is hip to the game or it will be too late. Be a pioneer for the mobile web, you will not be dissappointed!

keithmt

 

[GeoOwners]

you have it backwards...the whole world is hip to mobile...the States are always last to adopt tech...imho

 

[scandiman]

What do you think? Is it really worth spending the time to develope a really nice mobile website or would a person get a better return on there efforts by developing a .com site for the pc web?

First off I'll say that a mobile website can be on any extension but I'm assuming you mean is it worth spending the time to develop a .mobi site for mobile internet users.

Yes, it is highly speculative right now. No doubt. But what is motivating me to build is that I think it is coming and I've got some great domains in .mobi. Back in '92, the question would be something like, "Is it really worth building a website to sell my widgets? Who is going to buy them over the internet?"

There is a convergence of better devices and better connectivity and a huge installed user base that bodes extremely well for an explosion of mobile web use. Plus I think .mobi will offer a branding advantage, letting people know that the site will most likely work well on their device. But I need to provide users with what they are looking for. Users will go elsewhere if I don't deliver the goods. But that's a business issue that has nothing to do with the tld.

 

[-REECE-]

I would imagine your budget considerations would be important also. I'd love to have antioxidants.com myself rather than .mobi, however a .com with nearly 30k OVT would certainly set me back more than I can afford

 

[scandiman]

I would imagine your budget considerations would be important also. I'd love to have antioxidants.com myself rather than .mobi, however a .com with nearly 30k OVT would certainly set me back more than I can afford

Price of entry is a huge factor. I couldn't sell my house to get enough money to buy reno.com, but I got some great properties like reno.mobi for reg fee. Even if I didn't, the price of entry today in .mobi is a small fraction of .com and the potential is huge IMO. That is why I am continuing to buy good .mobis on the secondary market with plans to develop.

 

[cybertonic]

Except you have an outstanding service idea, and a lot of funds to market the site and want to play the pionneer:

There is absolutely no interest to spend time developping for the dot MOBI now if the idea is having a positive ROI.

This is TRUE for pc web and much MORE TRUE for mobi where the audience is not even still here and should not be for at least a +1 years.

Keep your names and be patient or sell them now if you cannot wait and need cash flow.

Like me, most of domainers here have +500 dot mobi names based on good keywords. And most have these dot mobi parked.
Did you notice the total monthly traffic is zero and the income is null?
So I am wondering why some of these domainers that own so much dot mobi are talking about develop, and often develop sites that should be of no interest even if the audience was here (without want to be rude).

As someone comented above, there is no need to have a dot mobi to can have a compliant site for mobile. We are running a mobile yellow pages dot com for +1 year now...

I understand that people here think that if they create dot mobi sites this may create an emulation. But what emulation? If the only ones that should know about your site are you and your friends.
This will not change nothing.

Most of the domainers just want the dot mobi explode to can sell for big bucks these dot mobi they purchased for peanuts.
I understand their hope but I think this will only happen when the following will arrive:

Search engines will start to give better rankings to dot mobi for searches initiated from a mobile device.
When this will happen, the SEO industry (much more powerfull than the domaining industry) will wake up!
And they will start registering and buying dot mobi to play the SEO game because having a dot mobi will mean get better rankings, get more free organic traffic, generate higher margins.

Sorry guys, today it's not the fact!!!!


Except type-in (that do not exist with dot mobi) and return visitors or visitors coming from linked sites (athat also do not exist for dot mobi), most of the web site visits are initiated by a search, mainly a Google search. And while Google, Yahoo, ... will not start showing dot mobi as first results, people will ignore they exist, and companies will not see the benefit to create a dot mobi.


Sorry if you feel I am bad, that's not the case.
Like most of you I have done some investments in the dot mobi...
But I do not want to make lies to people asking if they should develop now.


...

 

[scandiman]

But I do not want to make lies to people asking if they should develop now.
...

For me, I'm speaking about my own activities, thoughts and motivations and I'm certainly not lying about it.

 

[Mike]

mobile internet is the future, no doubt about that. is it the .mobi extension though? I doubt it. I still hold on to wap pages, one domain - one extension, with browser detection and .mobi is useless.

The USA is behind the curve, far behind when it comes to speed of wireless/service provider networks. Once we're catching up to japanese speed standards, we might have a legitimate shot of seeing changes.

ROI with .mobi? it's practically not given, too much money upfront for not enough users to monetize on the investment and not enough users is based on the costs of running data plans with your cell phone plan, speed of network and the majority of cell users doesn't even have capable phones, let alone smart phones.

point in case: mobile web - yes! .mobi - no

 

[scandiman]

mobile internet is the future, no doubt about that. is it the .mobi extension though? I doubt it. I still hold on to wap pages, one domain - one extension, with browser detection and .mobi is useless.

The USA is behind the curve, far behind when it comes to speed of wireless/service provider networks. Once we're catching up to japanese speed standards, we might have a legitimate shot of seeing changes.

ROI with .mobi? it's practically not given, too much money upfront for not enough users to monetize on the investment and not enough users is based on the costs of running data plans with your cell phone plan, speed of network and the majority of cell users doesn't even have capable phones, let alone smart phones.

point in case: mobile web - yes! .mobi - no

I'm confused by your post and I'm hoping you can clarify.

You start out by saying that the mobile internet is the future but then basically say .mobi has no ROI because there are too few mobile internet users. To use this reasoning then, .mobi will offer a ROI when there are more mobile users since as you put it, mobile internet is the future.

 

[-REECE-]

With the current state of dotcom, I wouldn't really imagine it would be any better of a buy (prices being considered).

Now I'm just throwing out figures here... But let's suppose Reno.com (Scandiman's example) cost $500,000 to buy. Even if I can make say $100,000 per year off it, that would mean it'll take me 5 years to breakeven and afterwards I'll have a nice profit.

In contrast, let's say dotmobi doesn't get big for 5 years but then all of the sudden you're making $50,000 a year off it. Which is realistically a better way to go? I'd say dotmobi, granted I can invest that $500,000 saved in say, oil and with the way things have been going lately, I could likely end up making just as much off the oil investment as I would off registering Reno.com and then turn around, develop the dotmobi and then I'd be 50k ahead each year with the dotmobi earnings.

Now of course I assumed alot of things here and it certainly isn't meant to be an accurate representation whatsoever... Just an example of a way in which dotmobi may be a better decision even if you have the money for a dotcom investment.

 

[cybertonic]

Scandiman,

I apologize if you felt the "lying" was for you.
I know you speak based on "your experience" and also "your hopes".
I have read enough of your posts to appreciate the guy you are, and respect him.

Now you, me, and all we have plans to resell these dot mobi when it will be the good time and certainly try develop some of them.
But in my own opinion it is as "stupid" to sell your dot mobi NOW that is "stupid" to want to develop them NOW.

I use the "stupid" term because I do not know an english term more smooth to express this idea. The term is really not used to intend to be rude.

...

Mike,

I have absolutely no doubts that the mobile web will be a success.
I have more reserves with the dot mobi.
I really think that only the benefit of better ranks for dot mobi sites for search initiated from mobiles can be one of the most important signal of success for the dot mobi.

...

 

[Mike]

I'm confused by your post and I'm hoping you can clarify.

You start out by saying that the mobile internet is the future but then basically say .mobi has no ROI because there are too few mobile internet users. To use this reasoning then, .mobi will offer a ROI when there are more mobile users since as you put it, mobile internet is the future.

It's actually surprisingly simple: a company "A" has a website "A.com". Their website is well positioned, designed, produces revenue and is an integral part of the company's operations.
Now the same company "A" is considering using "A.mobi" to satisfy the needs of mobile clients. What would have to happen is:
1, they have to design a .mobi site
2, they have to advertise, position and brand the .mobi site. That would be a considerably sized investment. At the same time, the .mobi is essentially containing similar information as "A.com".
(There are a few more things to it, but i don't want to totally get into every detail.)

On the flipside, i strongly believe that the mobile internet has a great future, just not in the .mobi extension.
Point in case, my favorite example: ebay. they own the .mobi but it's not used, instead, they're using wap.ebay.com which is cellphone/smartphone optimized. The advantages are clear: Only one extension/site to promote, less spread of information, less confusion, less branding/positioning work and less scattered advertising to achieve the same result.

Summary: mobile internet - yes, absolutely. However, just because the mobile net has a significant future doesn't mean that .mobi will be the vehicle to get it done. We toyed around with the thought at my company as well. We have all the .coms for our products and considered to attach the .mobi to it. In the end, our decision is: forget the .mobi but add a 16 line script to the current .com(s) that detect the incoming browser and route you to a wap site. Simple, smooth and only one site to promote, invest in, position, brand, etc.

I'm hoping this was not too elaborate but also explanatory at the same time. If you'd like to discuss this any further, please use the sig in my profile and we'll talk about the business aspect over on intelbank.

 

[scandiman]

Summary: mobile internet - yes, absolutely. However, just because the mobile net has a significant future doesn't mean that .mobi will be the vehicle to get it done. We toyed around with the thought at my company as well. We have all the .coms for our products and considered to attach the .mobi to it. In the end, our decision is: forget the .mobi but add a 16 line script to the current .com(s) that detect the incoming browser and route you to a wap site. Simple, smooth and only one site to promote, invest in, position, brand, etc.

Thanks for sharing your own experience in evaluating .mobi for your purposes. I appreciate your perspective especially as a developer and not just a speculator. I'm curious, did you hedge your bets and reg the .mobi's anyway in case its branding value takes off?

 

[Mike]

Thanks for sharing your own experience in evaluating .mobi for your purposes. I appreciate your perspective especially as a developer and not just a speculator. I'm curious, did you hedge your bets and reg the .mobi's anyway in case its branding value takes off?

Actually no, i stay clear of .mobi
The reasons above are just part of it, but .tel is another thing that i give a very close "eyeball" as i believe that .tel might cause problems for .mobi and may be an interesting vehicle for investment purposes.

 

[scandiman]

Scandiman,

I apologize if you felt the "lying" was for you.
I know you speak based on "your experience" and also "your hopes".
I have read enough of your posts to appreciate the guy you are, and respect him.

Now you, me, and all we have plans to resell these dot mobi when it will be the good time and certainly try develop some of them.
But in my own opinion it is as "stupid" to sell your dot mobi NOW that is "stupid" to want to develop them NOW.

I use the "stupid" term because I do not know an english term more smooth to express this idea. The term is really not used to intend to be rude.

...

Mike,

I have absolutely no doubts that the mobile web will be a success.
I have more reserves with the dot mobi.
I really think that only the benefit of better ranks for dot mobi sites for search initiated from mobiles can be one of the most important signal of success for the dot mobi.

...

no hurt feelings cybertonic, thanks for the clarification. I have my reservations about .mobi also but in the end, I can choose to be part of the solution and develop sites or I can do nothing. I benefit by increasing the potential value of the space by adding content and I gain greater knowledge in how to develop for mobile users. Since .mobi's offer no real revenue for parking, it only makes sense to develop IMO and learn how to generate revenue in the mobile space using many of my great .mobi names.

Actually no, i stay clear of .mobi
The reasons above are just part of it, but .tel is another thing that i give a very close "eyeball" as i believe that .tel might cause problems for .mobi and may be an interesting vehicle for investment purposes.

Ah, .tel, I'm watching that one also.

 

[mjnels]

anyone who hasnt done so should read about .tel here..

http://www.icann.org/tlds/stld-apps-19mar04/tel-telnic.htm


dont cheat, read the whole thing... dotmobi and dottel are two completely different things..

 

[cybertonic]

We are starting to be out of the exact context of this thread, but well it's interesting:

Mike,

In another post (and maybe forum) I expressed exactly the same opinion you expressed above about the interest of not build a dot mobi for established sites that want to reach mobile users.
As I said there is absolutely no advantage of using a dot mobi for such sites, in fact it's even the inverse and for a bunch of reasons (you given some of them)!
This is why I quickly realized that if the dot mobi do not get a real advantage compared with other extensions then current sites should not use a dot mobi name for reach this audience.
The only advantage I still see today that could push companies to use a dot mobi is the one I explained above.

...

Scandiman,

That's true we do not generate money with dot mobi parking today and probably for a long time. So using some of your current dot mobi names to develop some sites for mobile and acquire some experience is probably positive. As is it allways positive to learn.
But I wanted to outline that is the only one can earn developing dot mobi sites TODAY: experience.

...

 

[scandiman]

....But I wanted to outline that is the only one can earn developing dot mobi sites TODAY: experience.

Actually, people are earning real money from their mobi's today. A few posts come to mind:

See #10 of this thread for a report on dir.mobi:

http://www.namepros.com/dot-mobi/29...-with-traffic.html?highlight=dir.mobi+traffic

See #19 of this thread for a report on scubadiver.mobi:

http://www.namepros.com/dot-mobi/303343-a-you-cant-monitize-mobi-discussion.html