.mobi Why Mobi didn't have a chance...

[freeflow]

......in the past, but might in the future.

First there was a native app boom now it is time for web apps and last but not least the time will come for mobile websites. Your average business and developer doesn’t need any kind of app to have a mobile presence. When this time comes people will realize that there are many great .mobi names to register or to buy for a fraction of the price of other tlds. The best part is that .mobi is the only tld that says “I am mobile”. We all know that technically the tld doesn’t matter, but from a marketing perspective I think .mobi has a big advantage and I just can’t stop saying it, but .mobi just looks cooler than all the other strange possibilities like m + dot, wap + whatever, slash + something awkward etc. I know it has been a long and hard road for .mobi domainers, but I still believe .mobi will have its chance in the future...

Read this and keep dotmobi in mind:
When Responsive Web Design Is Bad For SEO

In my January column I resolved not to discuss the responsive Web design issue anymore, as the One URL versus multiple URL issue is moot now that Google has announced a way to consolidate link equity for equivalent mobile URLs. Unfortunately, the rest of the SEO community isn’t following suit, as responsive Web design still seems to have the undeserved reputation for being the best option for SEO.

http://searchengineland.com/when-responsive-web-design-is-bad-for-seo-149109

 

[RaiderGirl]

"Why mobi didn't have a chance..."

If technology was frozen in time after Mobi was introduced up to now, and we were still looking at 1 1/2" x 1 3/4" phone screens, maybe the TLD coupled with a great marketing campaign would of had a chance, but even that's a big IF.

BUT - nearly everyone on the forums were saying the reason .mobi would fail is because "people dont use the internet on their phones for everything." that statement was so hilariously foolish and nearly everybody was saying it. "oh maybe things like sports and news but whos going to use the internet on a cell phone" :lol:

"everyone" was posting that? Some may have said that, but it was certainly not the primary reason domainers said it would fail... The majority of domainers including myself who predicted the demise did so based on Mobi's uselessness, that it was a unnecessary TLD, Screen sizes on phones were increasing, the Iphone was introduced and then came auto detection, Mobility got pounded by newer technology, A lot of us non investors saw the writing on the wall while foolish investors like Gerry refused too, He was invested so heavily in it, that he refused to listen to any reason, Mobi was a sinking ship and he went down with it.

Looking back, I'm actually surprised Mobi got as much as mileage as it did, I attribute that to the number of corporate brands who used it, it put Mobi on life support just long enough for resellers to unload as many they could before the bottom fell out...

The market consisted primarily of domainers buying and selling from one another, no fresh end user money coming in, which means the late comers were going to get screwed the most, or rather screwed themselves, depending on how you look at it.
.

 

[mjnels]

"everyone" was posting that? Some may have said that, but it was certainly not the primary reason domainers said it would fail...

ok, not everyone.

what im saying is the discussion became more about the mobile internet not being that big of deal. this was before the iphone.. anyone reading those threads now would laugh..

the "success" probably had little to do with the sponsors names attached to it because there wasnt very much talk about .mobi at all until the magical Flowers.mobi sale.. and few others sold for obscene amounts. thats when the discussion really blew up.

 

[Sam]

Never had a chance. Never will.

 

[carob]

The level of .mobi registrations has been holding at about 1m for several years now according to hosterstats.com. I don't find many of those domains in use but maybe they are used in developing countries where non-smartphones are widely used for internet use.

At this point I doubt the domains are held by domainers since they have no real-world resale value.

 

[Kate]

There must be a lot of defensive registrations. Surprisingly it's still growing but there is hardly any TLD that isn't at least experiencing natural growth. .tel may be the only one. .name also lost a lot of volume.

I think many domainers are still owning .mobi domains along .pro .biz .xxx .whatever etc, TLDs that everybody should know are doomed imho.

 

[mjnels]

doomed compared to what?

the hundreds/thousands of new TLDs coming soon will be playing catchup with existing TLDs.

 

[biggie]

this was before the iphone..

:talk:


and that....before the iphone is what was feuling the speculative registrations


but after that picture of the iphone came out and showed the phone's browser with a .com url in it....that screwed .mobi forever.

 

[mjnels]

:talk:


and that....before the iphone is what was feuling the speculative registrations


but after that picture of the iphone came out and showed the phone's browser with a .com url in it....that screwed .mobi forever.

not really dude... its just a TLD. it always was and never was anything more.

all this hype is what the registry was selling. i agree it was fueling speculative registrations but not mine.. some people thought technology would stay in the same place.

just like some people think thousands of TLD's will "only make .com stronger" :lol:

makes zero sense.

---------- Post added at 03:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:02 PM ----------

mobi was the best pump and dump tld yet and we all have rick to thank for that.(mostly) i feel for all the people who spent 40k or more on a single mobi domain...there were a number of them. i myself spent close to 10k that i'll never get back. if only i would of instantly sold during the hype...

yeah i dont know about it "being ricks fault"

i played the game too but there was no need to "pump"... people were buying LLL when you TOLD them thousands were dropping and it was a bad idea and the price continued to fall.

go back and read ALL the other hypsters talking nonsense about the hundreds of .mobi's they planned to "develop"

almost every .mobi person claimed development and that they were trying to better the TLD. if this wasnt pump and dump it sure was ignorance.. people at one point were talking about PRICE FIXING :lol:

yeah, lets all a bunch of strangers on the internet agree on a minimum price. im sure one guy wont be willing to sell $1 lower.

people have nobody to blame but themselves.

 

[DynamoMoe]

I no understand why people mention other peopels name in this post.

can not people take law action against people like this?

 

[freeflow]

thats what im saying. nearly everyone at DNF had the opinion that internet on mobile devices will never be that big of thing except for certain things like news/sports.

Very good comment! :bingo:

 

[snowbird]

There must be a lot of defensive registrations. Surprisingly it's still growing but there is hardly any TLD that isn't at least experiencing natural growth. .tel may be the only one. .name also lost a lot of volume.

I think many domainers are still owning .mobi domains along .pro .biz .xxx .whatever etc, TLDs that everybody should know are doomed imho.

Interestingly enough I actually find quite a bit of sites online using the .biz extension. Sure the internet is not swamped with .biz, but every now and then when I'm searching for a business using google, I come across a site using .biz. So I wouldn't call that one a total loss.

As for the .mobi extension, I think when it first came out it was a good idea in theory in what it would be used for. But things just went in a different direction in regards to mobile websites. When you go to any website online, most of the big popular sites automatically send you to a mobile version of their site or offer you a mobile view of their site when going to their main domain. So the need for the .mobi extension was not as necessary as people would have thought. Why get another extension when you can just redirect mobile visitors to a sub domain that has a mobile version of the site?

Also with data speeds getting faster and faster on mobile devices, I'm starting to see less of a need for mobile sites. Many mobile devices load the desktop views of sites just fine and with pinch zoom and multi touch functionality, navigating has become a piece of cake. Technology advanced forward over the years making the mobile version of sites no longer a necessity. Sure there are still times where a mobile version may come in handy. But for the most part, I expect to see more use of web apps as well as websites without the need of a mobile version depending upon how graphics and multimedia intensive it is.

 

[Kate]

nearly everyone at DNF had the opinion that internet on mobile devices will never be that big of thing except for certain things like news/sports.

The problem is that in a way .mobi was pushing for trimmed-down websites, wap-style. Dragging the pace of technology advances down, not up.

In my view, mobile Internet had to evolve to the point that the distinction between mobile and desktop would ultimately blur - which is a reality today. Then a TLD for mobile devices becomes obsolete - it's a self-fulfilling prophecy :]
The mobile Internet just wouldn't take off with 3110 Nokia phones, 2.5' screens and numeric keypads.
I have always thought that consumers wouldn't accept that sort of online experience, and until conditions improve, usage would therefore be limited to essential services like online banking, news or bookings for example.

Fast forward into 2013, we are still confronted with absurd TLDs.

 

[mjnels]

The problem is that in a way .mobi was pushing for trimmed-down websites, wap-style. Dragging the pace of technology advances down, not up.

In my view, mobile Internet had to evolve to the point that the distinction between mobile and desktop would ultimately blur - which is a reality today. Then a TLD for mobile devices becomes obsolete - it's a self-fulfilling prophecy :]
The mobile Internet just wouldn't take off with 3110 Nokia phones, 2.5' screens and numeric keypads.
I have always thought that consumers wouldn't accept that sort of online experience, and until conditions improve, usage would therefore be limited to essential services like online banking, news or bookings for example.

Fast forward into 2013, we are still confronted with absurd TLDs.

hmm not sure what you're saying here. cause "trimmed down" websites are the way to go for mobile.

nobody wants to pinch and scroll full websites.. its not ideal. technology is not completely the answer in this case.. it doesnt mean you need a special TLD for this - but you certainly need to design something from the ground up unique for mobile.

Even in 2006 the .mobi domain was never needed and never restricted to just mobile sites, so it was a marketing exercise, not a technical one. How is this relevant now?

Flip forward to 2013. What I think is relevant to day is that .mobi was backed by big companies such as Google, Microsoft and Visa, and it achieved publiciity, 1m registrations and high auction prices - and then domain resale prices crashed and also the company behind the TLD, Dotmobi (originally called MTLD), became insolvent. Luckily Afilias agree to take them over so the extension did not just disappear. Actual use of the domains appears very low, though no one knows for sure about that.

So I would look hard at the viability of any new TLD, even one with big name backers and promotion - plenty will go bust. .Mobi did.[/B]

where in the world are you getting this information from.. they went bust? became insolvent? not accurate dude.

you mean a lot of domainers lost money? that isnt a bust for the registry man - thats a boon.

 

[carob]

where in the world are you getting this information from.. they went bust? became insolvent? not accurate dude.

Why do you say that? Didn't you read the news?

http://www.elliotsblog.com/mobi-numbers-arent-pretty-7261

“In 2009 mTLD had a loss of €3.5 million on a turnover of €6.4 million, compared to a loss of €324,000 the year before on turnover of €9 million. Total assets less liabilities (eg money owed to creditors) in 2009 was €1.7 million.”

http://paidcontent.org/2010/02/13/419-dotmobi-sells-mobi-domain-name-operator/

Or get the company's financial statements yourself from the Companies Registration Office Ireland http://cro.ie

These are publicly reported, objectively verifiable facts where anyone can obtain the source documents to see for themselves.

 

[mjnels]

hmm interesting. im having trouble searching that cro.ie site tho.. whats the direct link? i searched mobi and got nothing

so wait a minute.. how is the .mobi registry not profitable overall? its larger than most cctlds and sold by almost every registrar in the world.. they're not profitable at all?

 

[carob]

hmm interesting. im having trouble searching that cro.ie site tho.. whats the direct link? i searched mobi and got nothing

Company search address -just search for Dotmobi
http://www.cro.ie/search/CompanySearch.aspx

The company was originally called MTLD then traded as Dotmobi then in 2010 became a subsidiary of Afiias - Google, Microsoft, Visa and all the other tech companies transferred all their founding stockholdings to Afilias in 2010. So for post 2010 I guess you need to get Afilias reports from Cro.ie to see what they say - possibly nothing about Dotmobi.

---------- Post added at 12:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:09 PM ----------

so wait a minute.. how is the .mobi registry not profitable overall? its larger than most cctlds and sold by almost every registrar in the world.. they're not profitable at all?

Good question for Afiias or anyone who wants to try studying their publicly available accounts at cro.ie

 

[Keith]

hmm not sure what you're saying here. cause "trimmed down" websites are the way to go for mobile.

nobody wants to pinch and scroll full websites.. its not ideal.

I would've thought the same thing before I started using mobile exclusively for Internet access.

Right now for example, I'm on NP pinching and scrolling with no complaints. Sometimes I actually find myself choosing the desktop site over the mobile version of various sites. There's usually more options available on the desktop and it renders damn near as fast... At this point "trimmed down" is the last thing I want to see!

 

[mjnels]

The issue at hand goes well beyond .mobi.

For non-domainers .mobi is nothing special, just another extension.
There are too many extensions already.

Imagine that, if I allowed the registries to dictate my Internet strategy I should operate a distinct mobile-friendly website on a .mobi, then use a .jobs for the recruitment section, and publish my contact data on .tel. When you look at the big picture (not just one specific extension) you see the absurdity.

Businesses don't see value in fragmentation of their online presence. Just unnecessary confusion.

if im a food truck and dont have a website yet and i decide to start one - how is operating on foodtruck.mobi fragmentation of the internet? im a mobile food truck.. thats my site.

The only thing that makes .mobi special (to domainers) is how it was heavily hyped - quite surprising given that the TLD is awkward and not very sexy (IMO). It was even depicted as the dotcom killer. I know that some people have lost 6 figures on .mobi and are still feeling the pain. In other extensions there are isolated cases too, but I have not witnessed losses on the scale of .mobi.

LOL dotcom killer - who was saying that? maybe a few nutcases on the forums but none of this talk was ever taken seriously. there were also people who thought for every .com there should be a matching .mobi mobile website like you're describing.

people who lost 6 figures gambled big time. they knew the risk and choose to take it. i played the game too and im not going around blaming anyone.

 

[Jason.tv]

.io is the new .mobi

 

[RaiderGirl]

I know that some people have lost 6 figures on .mobi and are still feeling the pain. In other extensions there are isolated cases too, but I have not witnessed losses on the scale of .mobi.

Some domainers were very vocal in support of .mobi because of their sizable investments, and the failure of .mobi fostered bitter disappointment.

This is what ticked me off more than anything, A group of blind idiots hyping a TLD for their own benefit or their own insecurity, trying to convince themselves they made a good decision..

I asked one newbie who lost a substantial amount, whether or not the posts he read had influenced his decision to invest, the answer I got back was YES.. The less experienced will always look up to the more experienced domainer, but in the case of Mobi, the hypers only pretended to know what they were talking about, they came off as knowledgeable but in reality they weren't, they were not even successful domainers, many are bottom feeders to this very day.

 

[mjnels]

well the problem with blaming the hypesters is almost all of them lost money too.

so its not some conspiracy... they believed the stuff they were saying themselves. trust me i was there. i made some mistakes too but tried to never attach "hopes and dreams" to my sales.

e.g. like saying: "this will go up in value fast!" (people said that about the LLL even though they were falling)

 

[RaiderGirl]

well the problem with blaming the hypesters is almost all of them lost money too.

so its not some conspiracy... they believed the stuff they were saying themselves. trust me i was there. i made some mistakes too but tried to never attach "hopes and dreams" to my sales.

e.g. like saying: "this will go up in value fast!" (people said that about the LLL even though they were falling)

I wasn't referring to you MJ, Your were one of a few that stayed clear of selling anyone on it.. Your so incredibly honest in your posts, I wouldn't think for a minute you would do that.... And as I said before, I'm happy you made a few sales and turned a profit, that's what domaining is all about...

Your right though, the hypsters believed what they were posting, I don't doubt that, What I take issue with is they were predicting Mobi's success, based mostly on speculation they fabricated in their own minds.. When you consider that most members on forums are newbies, it's almost like a online school to them, they absorb all that information.. Some are good at sorting it all out and making the right decision, but many are not, many dove right into it and lost their ass, which is unfortunate.