It is predicted that soon .mobi will challenge .com
Don't you just love predictions?
By whom? A journalist who hasn't a clue how difficult it is to construct and offer a shopping cart on .mobi compared to .com/etc?
"Soon" may possibly be a long time coming, simple things for sure, the more complicated, much later unless someone offers a fully compliant, ready-made shopping cart at a reasonable cost.
.Biz didn't corner the business market, did it?
.Info didn't suddenly overwhelm the SERPs for information, did it? Even when the registry continues to "give .info domains away" for $.99, right?
.Biz for business, .Info for information, and now .Mobi for mobile.
Take a lesson from the past: Buy tulips [en.wikipedia.org].
There's nothing that prevents someone from building a mobile-friendly site on a .com domain, or browser sniffing and serving up a version of the site appropriate to the visitor's device. Whereas the .mobi extension implies a site for mobile users only.
And google is doing some pretty cool things with adapting existing websites for mobile devices ...
Sounds like that prediction came from soneone trying to sell some .mobis ...
[edited by: MamaDawg at 12:10 am (utc) on Sep. 20, 2007]
Why use an entirely new TLD?
.mobi was a bad decision from the start and is a bad investment no matter how you look at it.
I think .mobi is in a league of its own and has a chance specifically for mobile phone users.
.mobi is a catchy name, and with four times the amount of cell phones being used then personal computers it should have a better chance then .info did
And all they are doing is hurting .mobi with this challenging .com nonsense
6 fewer keystrokes.
I think this is the first real attempt to look after the *user* rather than the *publisher*, and given how expensive and slow mobile connectivity can be, that's a good thing and long overdue.
Disclaimer: I own at least one .mobi because I believe what I say above!
Rgds
Damon
Just a note... I am all for .mobi, and I thought I was making that pretty clear. I am curious as to what others think... will it survive? I'm reading 50/50 results on it and each seems to have their points, but the positive side of them seems to be a bit stronger. My main question was would you or would you not consider a .mobi domain for your single or multiple sites? I was thinking the kicker would be that if they properly alert the public to the .mobi option and what it is for (where they didnt do that with .info) then it has a good chance to workout.
A welcome to WW from me, though I'm only an occasional poster these days.
I agree with you, .mobi could do well if properly promoted. But that may prove to be a big 'if'. I'm gambling that it will pay off, and I run a .mobi version of my main .org site (same underlying content, very different presentation for the handheld device).
I am generating tiny amounts of revenue on my .mobi site, but Google's entrance to the monetisation market with AdSense for Mobile, along with existing players such as AdMob, definitely increases the chance of .mobi being a commercial success, IMHO.
Rgds
Damon
When a mobile user opens a .mobi site he can be sure that he is opening a site which is made suitable for his mobile envirornment whereas in above case he has no way to know beforehand.
Sales over $10,000
Hosting.mobi $101,000
Bank.mobi $51,501
Download.mobi $51,500
Currency.mobi $47,000
Insurance.mobi $42,005
Chat.mobi $42,000
Traffic.mobi $36,008
Books.mobi $33,510
Free.mobi $31,500
Loans.mobi $ 30,000
Marketing.mobi $26,100
Creditcard.mobi $25,500
Rent.mobi $21,000
Creditcards.mobi $20,500
Voip.mobi $ 20,500
Webcam.mobi $16,000
DomainName.mobi $15,000
DomainNames.mobi $12,600
Advertising.mobi $12,100
Downloads.mobi $11,185
Credit.mobi $10,600
Atm.mobi $10,100
Payment.mobi $10,100
When a mobile user opens a .mobi site he can be sure that he is opening a site which is made suitable for his mobile envirornment whereas in above case he has no way to know beforehand.
Very true ...but my point was that .mobi addresses a limited market whereas .com is more "global", therefore its unlikely that .mobi will push .com out of the #1 position any time soon.
I'm not "anti-mobi" - I have several developed, fully-compliant mobile sites. However the industry hype has so far surpassed public acceptance and recognition.
It will be interesting to see how many of those auction buyers were end users and how many were domainers/speculators...
My thoughts were more on the question will .mobi take off at all? Statistics show that there are 4 times more people using cell phones then computers. Do you think .mobi in a few years (or less) will be a "staple" to a cell phone (just like the home PC is a standard staple to most homes across the world these days.) Yes .com sites can be made .mobi friendly, but will CEO's go out and have a new .mobi site designed OR will they have their current .com redesigned so that it is both .com and .mobi friendly?
Do you think big business will take the split (both .mobi and .com)?
What about the new or not so new small businesses? Will they take the split?
I also think that .mobi alone is a catchy phrase so people will say "mobi it" just as they do with "Google it" ... I think .mobi really has a positive shot, but that all depends on well it is marketed.
Personally I do not think BOTH big and small businesses will re-design their .com sites. I think they will just go with both domains because they can afford to do it.
Why? domain prices are so cheap these days it will not be a question of domain costs ... the problem is cost of design. Let's consider that for a moment. A .mobi site is basically a standard style sheet, a thumbnail here and there. A .com is not so standard when it comes to a business website. These include their marketing features such as scripts, forms, animation, larger graphics and more. I do not think a .com is going to give up the strength of an already proven sales copy (site) I think they will go with a new .mobi site and do the same thing they did with their main site ... test the waters until they get a sales copy that works. So, a .mobi site all together truly wouldn't be a major expense to the small business either.
With that said what are the thoughts as to .mobi not kicking or beating up on .com, but rather it making it as being a sister to the .com ... do YOU think it has a chance?
