The latest Moniker domain auction was held last week, and along with the usual multi-million dollar domain buys that we’ve come to expect from these domain auctions (computer.com went for $2.2 million), another domain many people might not have heard of, let alone used saw six figure sales.
Dot.mobi domains we released for sale in September 2006 and are aimed at providing mobile phone specific websites. The dotMobi TLD registrar is financially backed by Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Ericsson, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Telefónica Móviles, Telecom Italia Mobile, Orascom Telecom, GSM Association , Hutchison Whampoa, Syniverse Technologies, and VISA.
The Moniker auction saw three 6 figure Dot.mobi sales Poker.mobi for $150,000, Ringtones.mobi for $145,000 and News.mobi for $110,000. These join previous Dot.mobi sales of Flowers.mobi for $200,000, Sportsbook.mobi for $129,800, and Fun.mobi for $100,000. Other Dot.mobi domains to sell at Moniker were Email.mobi ($50,000), Podcast.mobi ($25,000) and PDA.mobi and Zipcodes.mobi ($8,000 each).
Whilst domain speculation is hot at the moment, it’s not unreasonable to question this sort of money going into obscure domains at a time that new mobile phones (in particular the iPhone, but with many more soon following) display full web pages as opposed to a cut down mobile versions only.
I think the iPhone may be much of the very cause, with all the craze of making iPhone-specific sites. I don’t see a ton of buzz about people looking at straight web pages on their iPhones, but here comes one that only works for it, and it’s pants-wetting season.
Gosh… here we go again… we are in another internet bubble!
The people who invested in these names knew what they were doing. The .mobi TLD is not just for iPhones, but for any and every mobile device, even a three year old obsolete cell phone. There are strict development standards for .mobi phones to ensure they will load properly every time, unlike device detection which is far from foolproof.
Try http://bofa.mobi on your Razr or Blackberry and do your banking online. Or how about finding a restaurant review at http://Zagat.mobi while you’re driving around looking for a place to eat.
If you or a female friend were assaulted after dinner, go to http://daterape.mobi for help.
This is no bubble. Three years from now you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it imho.
iPhones are increasing traffic on .mobi sites. You “can” view full pages on an iPhone but it bites. Now all the rage is iPhone optimized sites. Pretty much the same as a mobi site just different name. Check out weather.mobi vs weather.com on an iPhone and you’ll see the difference of ease of use.
not only does .mobi sound kind dumb, but you can just make your site display its “mobile version” to people that are using mobile browsers. Theres no real need for them.
WOW! At those prices I may let a few of my prize .mobi domains go for the right price. Email me at the following if anyone wants to make an offer:
fox_kpbqyg@trashmail.net
Available:
BUYVIDEO.MOBI
DATEFREE.MOBI
GETVID.MOBI
GOVID.MOBI
@5 – those aren’t prized domains.
the only MOBI domains selling right now are Good, single keywords.
i have
80S.MOBI
90S.MOBI
DEED.MOBI
JUNIORS.MOBI
ETC
ETC
btw, these are listed in the Silent Auction for Moniker’s Traffic event
.mobi is not new technology nor is it technology hindered. .mobi is a set of quality standards that seek to ensure a guaranteed positive experience by a mobile visitor. That visitor will know the same simply by sight – .mobi.
The standards, I’d imagine, will morph over time to fill the gap between current acceptable PC website practices, current mobile phone hardware / software capabilities, and a 100% success rate of usability from a mobile phone.
Others are correct that you CAN have a mobile version of your .com website, but if you are just a Joe Schmoe surfing around, how would you know that the .com you go to wouldn’t just leave you twisting in the wind for 5 minutes before vomitting on you (via your mobile phone)?
.mobi is a symbol of a guaranteed usable website from a mobile phone. That is what it is being marketed as. That is the founders’ vision (as I see it). And that is why they have enforceable quality standards. Look at the end users who are on board: BOFA, VISA, DISNEY, more.
It is being executed beautifully. Thank you.
I agree with both Morgan and Tim. Anything iphone specific is specific ONLY to the iphone. This is an even bigger problem than the branding issues imposed by use of the .mobi domain which is standardized.
Expect development of .mobi websites to greatly exceed iphone penetration. Open standards almost always win in the market.
I think it was out of order for the .mobi guys to hold back these domains in the first place. It was land grab but they had already cheery picked out all the good ones. The only reason that these went for so much was that people are betting on the future. As soon as the search engine start serving up .mobi domains over .coms on mobile search I see them going for even more.
Wow nice business!
It’s like the online version of real estate, every idiot can make money with it (-;
Why are you referring to these as “dot.mobi” domains. You don’t make sense. If you want to say Dot Mobi, fine. If you want to say .mobi, fine, but don’t double up on your dots!
dot who cares.
.mobi domains is like buying land on the moon
you are an idiot if you fall into this stupid scam
I was bidding on the term: italianfurniture.com at snapnames.com, it went for over $16,000….go figure. Google’s Pay Per Click model has driven domain values to the moon. If anyone want to get in on the .Mobi craze I am a proud seller (especially at this point) of OWN.Mobi and Jewel.Mobi
Any takers?
Prized domains are brand names or dictionary word domain names. Aren’t all the big brands just using m.company.com? Set it up like a subdomain and minimize the headaches.
Money down the rathole!
http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com
I think iphone has influenced .mobi market significantly.
Waste of money..
http://vidsonly.blogspot.com
Lucky ones gets the spot. But its for sure that more usablity of mobile for web and that the trend. The bubble has not yet started. Their is only a few which has gone for 6 figures. Keep watching .
http://blogkatt.blogspot.com
Internet – mobile – universal standard – simple – in its infancy
.mobi = synonymous with the mobile web.
What’s not to like?
A waste of time & money?? – go figure?
5 & 6 figure domains will be common place soon IMHO.
The way i see it. The only domains worth investing in are quality .coms & .mobis
People can sit on the sidelines and talk whatever they want.
Too many pros not enough cons.
There has never been a tld with this sort of rapid success.
There is already a lot of people eating humble pie, news…… it’s set to get worse.
The future’s bright. The future’s mobi
Keep in mind that every PREMIUM .mobi domain sold at TRAFFIC and thru SEDO mandates thru a stipulation that the domains MUST be developed in 6 months or the the .mobi domain will be taken back by the mTLD.
Therefore, we are going to see good content laden sites at Prime keywords — no blank pages, no parking pages!!
ESPN is advertising ESPN.mobi all over the place!
Several Fortune 1000 companies are using dotMobi names in their MobileWeb marketing campaigns.
dotMobi is the new .com for the MobileWeb, .mobi is inherently MobileWeb, just like .co.uk is for companies in the UK. .mobi is for companies on the MobileWeb.
William
So, have you used a .mobi?
Try using BankofAmerica.com on your cell phone.
Then use BofA.com.
Which loads fastest?
Which requires less scrolling?
Which is easier to use and navigate?
Try BMW.com vs. BMW.mobi
Try BusinessWeek.com vs. BusinessWeek.mobi
Try FoxNEWS.com vs. FoxNEWS.mobi
Why in the hell condemn something without even trying it and doing a side by side comparison.
Yeah! Yippee! The iPhone can display an entire website in miniature and its entirety.
Have you tried using this? Have you tried the .com vs. the .mobi test on your own.
Hmm, so I can have my own column and post my own thoughts which are unfounded, untrue, unsupported and simply voice my personal likes and dislikes?
I used to view this site for informative blurbs on products and technology.
What I see now is not so much TechCrunch but NutCrunch.
Yes, I own mobi. Yes, I own .com.
But until you put your hands on the iPhone or any web enabled device and do a comparison of the modalities and formatting, ask yourself what I am asking myself…
…what the hell is the point of your article?
By the way, what does this mean?
“(in particular the iPhone, but with many more soon following) display full web pages as opposed to a cut down mobile versions only.”
So a full web page displays on about a 3×5 screen and you don’t call that cut down?
Then you expand, expand, expand, expand, expand until you get to where you want to be.
What again is cut down? Or did you mean miniaturized?
Does a take a genius to realize ANYTHING on the phone (iphone, nokia, samsung) is “cut down” in size to fit?
Choose your words and choose them wisely.
.Mobi names may work very well for “quote” based businesses, like the stock market, something that is 1 touch and go, or a quick reference like weather.mobi. In all realty, quick, easy transactional .mobi names may be worth their salt
STOCKMARKETSUMMARY.MOBI
PHONEBIDS.MOBI
PHONEBIDDING.MOBI
PHONEBIDDER.MOBI
CELLBID.MOBI
AUCTIONBIDS.MOBI
AUCTIONBIDDER.MOBI
TRADINGUPDATE.MOBI
TRADERECAP.MOBI
STOCKTRADINGQUOTE.MOBI
STOCKSRECAP.MOBI
STOCKRECAP.MOBI
STOCKEXCHANGEUPDATES.MOBI
STOCKEXCHANGEQUOTES.MOBI
REALESTATEUPDATES.MOBI
NASDAQUOTES.MOBI
MARKETRECAP.MOBI
FIXEDMARKET.MOBI
CURRENCYSPOTPRICES.ORG
CURRENCYSPOTPRICES.MOBI
CURRENCYQUOTE.MOBI
CRUDEPRICES.MOBI
BONDMARKETQUOTES.MOBI
BONDMARKETQUOTE.MOBI
Transactional .Mobi domains….Thats where the $ is-
check my mobi for sale
zxc.mobi
qaz.mobi
check your keyboards!
This is indeed an evolution. I am a fan of dot mobi and I knew from the beginning that it will get so popular.
it’s amazing what the internet has become. how much it developed and how many users it now has.
The revolution in computer science and technology has radically transformed the way we communicate with and view each other.