.mobi What is your take on the Sedo .Mobi Auction Successful, Unsuccessful?

[yoyosean]

Was this above or below your expectations?

 

[qO_Op]

All this talk about prices doesn't mean $h*t, IMO. If .mobi's are going to end-users for cheap then that is better than them selling for huge amounts and going to domainers! e.g. Flowers.mobi for $200k, but going to someone who will most likely never develop it. Insurance.mobi for around $40k, but going to Insurance.com and will be developed within 6 months!
100 auctions finishing at the same time gives real end-users the best chance of securing their name. Development requirements will follow.
The auction will be a HUGE success if many of the names go to end-users, not if they sell for millions of dollars, IMO.

 

[Pred]

All this talk about prices doesn't mean $h*t, IMO. If .mobi's are going to end-users for cheap then that is better than them selling for huge amounts and going to domainers! e.g. Flowers.mobi for $200k, but going to someone who will most likely never develop it. Insurance.mobi for around $40k, but going to Insurance.com and will be developed within 6 months!
100 auctions finishing at the same time gives real end-users the best chance of securing their name. Development requirements will follow.
The auction will be a HUGE success if many of the names go to end-users, not if they sell for millions of dollars, IMO.

what a commonsense posting.
spot on bitch!
rep added if it'll allow

 

[mejcdj]

All this talk about prices doesn't mean $h*t, IMO. If .mobi's are going to end-users for cheap then that is better than them selling for huge amounts and going to domainers! e.g. Flowers.mobi for $200k, but going to someone who will most likely never develop it. Insurance.mobi for around $40k, but going to Insurance.com and will be developed within 6 months!
100 auctions finishing at the same time gives real end-users the best chance of securing their name. Development requirements will follow.
The auction will be a HUGE success if many of the names go to end-users, not if they sell for millions of dollars, IMO.

:bingo: :great:
Rep here too.

 

[Mobi Cheap]

All this talk about prices doesn't mean $h*t, IMO. If .mobi's are going to end-users for cheap then that is better than them selling for huge amounts and going to domainers! e.g. Flowers.mobi for $200k, but going to someone who will most likely never develop it. Insurance.mobi for around $40k, but going to Insurance.com and will be developed within 6 months!
100 auctions finishing at the same time gives real end-users the best chance of securing their name. Development requirements will follow.
The auction will be a HUGE success if many of the names go to end-users, not if they sell for millions of dollars, IMO.

I've been wondering for some time if the simultaneous ending isn't a deliberate tactic, but on reflection decided it doesn't make sense to depress prices deliberately even further than they would be anyway (dumping the three hundred best generic words - or thereabout - on the market within a month or two is sufficient for the purpose you suggested - there was no need to apply the other Sedo auction techniques such as the simultaneous ending and the other four or so points that we've talked about at length in this forum).

Why? Because IMHO there was a significant risk this could have become the perfect storm for mobi (I've used that expression once before, sorry).

 

[garrett200]

SPOT ON about the endusers being the most important thing. It is definitely, far and away the single most important factor in the success of this.

I mentioned in another thread earlier that insurance.mobi going to insurance.com and being developed as a mobile site is the kind of thing I would like to see happen to all of these domains, or as many as humanly possible.

Price is definitely a secondary factor compared to this.

 

[Mobi Cheap]

SPOT ON about the endusers being the most important thing. It is definitely, far and away the single most important factor in the success of this.

I mentioned in another thread earlier that insurance.mobi going to insurance.com and being developed as a mobile site is the kind of thing I would like to see happen to all of these domains, or as many as humanly possible.

Price is definitely a secondary factor compared to this.

Wouldn't disagree with that at all.

If MTLD were run by a computer and I had to write the software (no jokes now about programming Jeff and/or Snoop, OK?) I would start with the simplest possible function:

Maximize: distribution to end users;
Subject to: no downward trends in secondary market prices.

With the September auction so far it appears they bet big and won big.

One could say this is a sign of genius, but I would be more comfortable if they didn't demonstrate such brilliance odds-wise too often in the future

 

[Badger]

1. Accuse the other party of your worst faults.

2. Insist that you are an avatar of the Truth and that the other person is Falsehood incarnate, or at least "misled."

3. Dwell on errors. Correct them in others at every opportunity.

4. Never apologize unequivocably. If forced to apologize, justify yourself in a way that makes it sound like the other party was responsible for your actions.

5. Write in such a way that the other party looks stupid if they don't respond.

6. Try to be many things at once, so that you can deny everything that is said about you.

7. Say the same thing over and over again.

8. Always strive to get the last word.

9. Never let a debate rest. Never allow the other party to withdraw without making it clear that they have lost.

10. Insist that you are misunderstood.

11. If you can't find something to flame the person about, make something up.

12. Convince yourself that you see the "real" motives.

13. Remember: Winning is everything.

I would say that, as an independant, almost every point above could be applied to either side in the seemingly continual arguments here and I believe i could live to a thousand years old and still not get why thats its only the .mobi forum that these issues occur.

And as much as I would never try and influence Garrett or Reece, the rule of thumb id apply to the .mobi forum would be as follows:

1. All posts MUST remain 'on topic'
2. Opinions should be backed up by fact or by some supporting evidence, not a regurgitation of an opinion posted numerous times previously.
3. Slights on someones character or on their knowledge is completely forbidden.
4. Bold type and increased font size must be used sparingly and never in an antagonistic manner.
5. News is not news simply because one company has a .mobi version of their .com site
6. Involvement in the .mobi forum is not reliant on being either a .mobi supporter or sceptic provided what is posted brings a value add to the forum.
7. Respect to your fellow man and the promotion of the extension always the underlying principals of why you are posting in the .mobi forum.

To any evolved domainer, these bullet points are obvious. maybe its just me, but the solution here seems pretty straightforward

 

[-REECE-]

I would say that, as an independant, almost every point above could be applied to either side in the seemingly continual arguments here and I believe i could live to a thousand years old and still not get why thats its only the .mobi forum that these issues occur.

And as much as I would never try and influence Garrett or Reece, the rule of thumb id apply to the .mobi forum would be as follows:

1. All posts MUST remain 'on topic'
2. Opinions should be backed up by fact or by some supporting evidence, not a regurgitation of an opinion posted numerous times previously.
3. Slights on someones character or on their knowledge is completely forbidden.
4. Bold type and increased font size must be used sparingly and never in an antagonistic manner.
5. News is not news simply because one company has a .mobi version of their .com site
6. Involvement in the .mobi forum is not reliant on being either a .mobi supporter or sceptic provided what is posted brings a value add to the forum.
7. Respect to your fellow man and the promotion of the extension always the underlying principals of why you are posting in the .mobi forum.

To any evolved domainer, these bullet points are obvious. maybe its just me, but the solution here seems pretty straightforward

Hmm... Let's see here

1. Too hard
2. Agreed
3. Agreed.
4. NEVER!!! :imho:
5. It sure is!!
6. Agreed.
7. Agreed.

 

[snoop]

I mentioned in another thread earlier that insurance.mobi going to insurance.com and being developed as a mobile site is the kind of thing I would like to see happen to all of these domains, or as many as humanly possible.

How much promotion are these types of buyers likely to do of the .mobi given they already own the .com? I would think people buying other extensions of their own name is more about "preventing others from buying it" rather than necessarily having a business plan for the name, though they will have to put mobile content on it of course. A lot of companies (many very big ones) have made defensive registrations but as we have seen promotion is thin on the ground.

 

[Mobi Cheap]

How much promotion are these types of buyers likely to do of the .mobi given they already own the .com? I would think people buying other extensions of their own name is more about "preventing others from buying it" rather than necessarily having a business plan for the name, though they will have to put mobile content on it of course. A lot of companies (many very big ones) have made defensive registrations but as we have seen promotion is thin on the ground.

Hey Snoop, you're getting predictable now.

See the posts above: I compared you favorably to Jeff, please don't let me down if at all possible.

 

[snoop]

Let's not let this thread decay into cheap insults.

 

[Mobi Cheap]

Let's not let this thread decay into cheap insults.

Sorry, I meant the 'defensive registration/purchase' point is a staple of the usual anti-mobi commentary and IMHO uniquely inappropriate in this case.

 

[scandiman]

How much promotion are these types of buyers likely to do of the .mobi given they already own the .com? I would think people buying other extensions of their own name is more about "preventing others from buying it" rather than necessarily having a business plan for the name, though they will have to put mobile content on it of course. A lot of companies (many very big ones) have made defensive registrations but as we have seen promotion is thin on the ground.

Who knows at this point what promotional effort will be put into these domains? They have 6 months to dev them and after testing and what not it may be a year from now to have an answer to your question. Thing is if these are defensive buys as you suggest, then I'm glad to see insurance.com felt .mobi was a threat enough to warrant a $40k defensive move. If they all are as you suggest then we just saw $800k+ spent to defend against loosing traffic to the coming wave of .mobi users.

 

[snoop]

Sorry, I meant the 'defensive registration/purchase' point is a staple of the usual anti-mobi commentary and IMHO uniquely inappropriate in this case.

Well that is why most large companies buy .mobi domains (and other alt extensions). Effectively what you are saying is that is brought up a lot, yes that is true, and for good reason. The reason why it is brought up a lot is because .mobi speculators often cite (defensive) registrations by large corporates as an indication of corporates adopting this extension.

Now why do you think for this case is it "uniquely inappropriate"? I guess time will tell as to whether they will promote this domain or not. To me it sounds like a defensive purchase.

 

[Mobi Cheap]

Well that is why most large companies buy .mobi domains (and other alt extensions). Effectively what you are saying is that is brought up a lot, yes that is true, and for good reason. The reason why it is brought up a lot is because .mobi speculators often cite (defensive) registrations by large corporates as an indication of corporates adopting this extension.

Now why in this case is it "uniquely inappropriate"?

Because insurance is not a brand name, it happens to be the generic term for the industry.

And if I can suggest one way of getting this thread to generate more light than heat (and less irony on my part) is that you try not to state things as facts when clearly they are just opinions. Example: "Well that is why most large companies buy .mobi domains..." How do you know that?

 

[snoop]

Because insurance is not a brand name, it happens to be the generic term for the industry.

For insurance.com it is a brand, despite the fact that it wouldn't be protectable legally, you have a domainers mindset with this comment. Many companies are interesting in picking up other tld's of their domain regardless of the genericness of the term.

 

[Mobi Cheap]

See what I meant above?

For insurance.com it is a brand

How do you know that?

You are responding to my assertion that "insurance is not a brand" - so you are stating that you know for a fact 'insurance' is a brand for insurance.com.

First of all, this does not make sense since there is at least one - much more logical - alternative.

Second, there is just no way for you to know for a fact which of the two they regard as their brand internally (unless you have reliable insider knowledge, in which case I would readily retract this point).

, despite the fact that it wouldn't be protectable legally

Totally agree. And this makes your first assertion above really strange.

, you have a domainers mindset with this comment.

How do you know that? If a domainer's mindset is such a terrible thing though, tell me what mindset is the right one here and I'll try to adopt that. Marketing would be fine, for example.

Many companies are interesting in picking up other tld's of their domain regardless of the genericness of the term.

Which part of your thesis does this (totally obvious) point prove? (BTW, somebody made a great point in another thread that's very relevant here, but I don't want to steal their thunder so I'll let this one go with just my original question).

 

[garrett200]

Who knows at this point what promotional effort will be put into these domains? They have 6 months to dev them and after testing and what not it may be a year from now to have an answer to your question. Thing is if these are defensive buys as you suggest, then I'm glad to see insurance.com felt .mobi was a threat enough to warrant a $40k defensive move. If they all are as you suggest then we just saw $800k+ spent to defend against loosing traffic to the coming wave of .mobi users.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mobi Cheap]

For insurance.com it is a brand, despite the fact that it wouldn't be protectable legally, you have a domainers mindset with this comment. Many companies are interesting in picking up other tld's of their domain regardless of the genericness of the term.

Snoop, one more thing (just in case Scandiman's response wasn't enough for tonight):

If we are talking in marketing terms (which is the only logical possiblity I can see since you said we are not talking trademark law here) then their brand is not 'insurance', it's 'insurance.com'.

Do you accept this?

If you do, then you'll also have to accept this by extension:

a) insurance.mobi is then a new brand for them, and
b) insurance.mobi is therefore not a defensive purchase, it's a purchase to create a new brand with or without help from an existing one.

Q.E.D. (IMHO)

 

[snoop]

Snoop, one more thing (just in case Scandiman's response wasn't enough for tonight):

If we are talking in marketing terms (which is the only logical possiblity I can see since you said we are not talking trademark law here) then their brand is not 'insurance', it's 'insurance.com'.

Do you accept this?

If you do, then you'll also have to accept this by extension:

a) insurance.mobi is then a new brand for them, and
b) insurance.mobi is therefore not a defensive purchase, it's a purchase to create a new brand with or without help from an existing one.

Q.E.D. (IMHO)

This simply isn't logical, like a I said before you are thinking like a domainer with this line of argument (see below).

How do you know that?

Well it is completely obvious that you have a domainers mindset with the comment. You have just about worn the grooves off that question, it is like someone who constantly asks "why" to every answer.

Some companies do want other extensions even when the term is generic, if I am computers.com I still may be interested in computers.xxx, and yes it will likely be for brand protection because computers.anything has the potential to cause confusion and create competition. You will see companies with generic names do buy other extensions from time to time and it isn't typically because they want to create a "new brand".

 

[eyedomainous]

".Mobi Auction Successful, Unsuccessful?"

.mobi, by design, is an alternate dimension in cyberspace. It occupies 'static space' in an 'expanding universe'. As such comparing prices to .com .net and so on is like comparing life on earth to the potential of habitats on the moon.

With that spacey analogy said... Yes! the auction was a great success in my view.... because virtually all of the 'SALES inventory' was sold. Which is a "successful SALES campaign" by any business standard, online or off.

As far as prices go... domains are 'online real estate' and by real estate standards .mobi prices per "square foot"/pixel are the highest, on average, in the industry! With only a few mega-million dollar domains sales (possibly) doing better.

Now if you must compare to .com, .net, and so on... you need to break it down to price per-square-pixel -to be fair. If you do that .mobi more than holds its own. Also, the cost of "development" has to be considered. It cost a hell of a lot more to build a house than a 'mobile home'.

 

[garrett200]

This simply isn't logical, like a I said before you are thinking like a domainer with this line of argument (see below).



Well it is completely obvious that you have a domainers mindset with the comment. You have just about worn the grooves off that question, it is like someone who constantly asks "why" to every answer.

Some companies do want other extensions even when the term is generic, if I am computers.com I still may be interested in computers.xxx, and yes it will likely be for brand protection because computers.anything has the potential to cause confusion and create competition. You will see companies with generic names do buy other extensions from time to time and it isn't typically because they want to create a "new brand".

If they spent 44K as a defensive measure, then why? Nobody would spend that much to protect themselves from something that has no chance of ever catching on. And we have no evidence of them "protecting themselves" from any other extension except .mobi.

But either way .mobi supporters win. If they bought as a defensive tactic, then they think they are protecting themselves from something - ANTICIPATED FUTURE LOST TRAFFIC, which means they think .mobi is going to be a huge success as an extension. Or, they bought to develop, meaning they think .mobi is going to be the next big thing, and they better secure the name to match their .com and develop.

 

[snoop]

If they spent 44K as a defensive measure, then why? Nobody would spend that much to protect themselves from something that has no chance of ever catching on. And we have no evidence of them "protecting themselves" from any other extension except .mobi.

Some companies spend very large sums on brand protection.

But either way .mobi supporters win. If they bought as a defensive tactic, then they think they are protecting themselves from something - ANTICIPATED FUTURE LOST TRAFFIC, which means they think .mobi is going to be a huge success as an extension. Or, they bought to develop, meaning they think .mobi is going to be the next big thing, and they better secure the name to match their .com and develop.

I would say it is more "just in case" rather than "they think .mobi is going to be a huge success as an extension", I don't think it really matters what they think of it was a defensive purchase though (ie if they aren't going to promote the domain anyway).

 

[advaita]

Why were the 5500 'premium names' reserved in the first place ? Surely it's just a way of selling them for thousands instead of selling them for $20 and letting domainers ell them for thousands ? Why not sell them to genuine companies for $20 ?

 

[scandiman]

Why were the 5500 'premium names' reserved in the first place ? Surely it's just a way of selling them for thousands instead of selling them for $20 and letting domainers ell them for thousands ? Why not sell them to genuine companies for $20 ?

Projects like dev.mobi, site.mobi, ready.mobi, find.mobi and the coming device database don't happen for free. mTLD is a for profit entity and funds from these kinds of sales help pay for stuff like this, as well as ongoing marketing efforts like sponsoring the webby awards and reaching out at various conferences around the globe.