The value of .mobi domains
 

I have an idea for a site/blog and it has a lot to do with mobile/handhelds. I'm considering a .mobi domain, but in all honestly I have no idea if it's a good idea to use that extension or not.

Good idea to use it? Or no?
Thanks.


.

I think cell phone's will continue to progress to 'standard' web browsing making a .mobi even more useless than it currently is. An 'm.domain.com' is equally effective IMHO.

This is sort of what I was thinking too, but all feedback is appreciated.

:2 cents:

.mobi are worthless IMO. it was just an idea to get more money out of people, and the same with .tel or any of those other "mobile" domains.

search engines on mobile phone mimic pc browser results, they don't favor mobile websites and i doubt they will anytime soon

If you are a new site and you want to target only mobile phone and devices, .MOBI is the standard...regardless of what anyone thinks or prefers.

Here's a little bit of info about .MOBI

http://why.mobi

.mobi is the standard only because the folks at .mobi said they were the standard. They wisely auctioned off premium .mobi domains little by little over the course of a couple years to try and garner interest in the extension and more importantly net them a lot of money. However, in the past year and a half or so, the extension has been dying a slow death. They recently sold their operations to Afilias I believe, and it came out that .mobi was at the time operating at a loss...a REGISTRY operating at a loss.

I personally think the guys who made .mobi may have believed their bullshit for a while, but were mainly doing it to make a cash grab for as long as they could, and it seems they were a success.

There is unfortunately very little reason to get a .mobi right now IMO. Even if your service is mobile-only, I've seen most sites these days of that nature sticking with .com anyways. .mobi came out when most mobile sites were still WAP. Times have changed and the line between web and mobile web is disappearing fast.

It depends on the service you want to offer.
It would not matter to me if I was using a a .mobi or .com site, as long as the service was useful.
In itself, I don't think a mobi domain is worth anything.

smartphones have a .com button on-screen but not a .mobi button

very true!

i've never typed .mobi after any url in my phone. i type .com and i'd be surprised if most others didnt too seeing how it has a .com button too.

Look at it like this, iPhones have .com as a button. They do not have .mobi as of yet. I have to vote for m.domain.com.

i think .mobi will have its place down the road. not much happening right now though.

I've never visited a .mobi in my life :2 cents:

I think one of the best ways is to answer is what do you do ? Lots of mobile sites now on the net so do you type .mobi on a regular basis ..if the answer is yes well then maybe a trend is starting ,but I would guess you dont .

.Coms rule no matter what marketing hype you hear although maybe in years to come that will change.

Thanks for all the comments.

Actually today i just helped one of my friends build thier mobile apps blog and used a .info for the blog .... www.iPhonesAppGuide.info as they only cost 89 cents at godaddy for the year (just in case he gives up on it ! ) and a .com for his main product.....www.iPhonesAppGuide.com

I advised him not to bother with a .mobi unless he adds a mobile version to it ..then he has all areas covered. :)

my thoughts exactly, iphone and android OS both do.

dude, you own those sites lol

doubtful...


but i have used some .mobi sites in real life. i think m.domain.com is lame. who is going to remember that? auto detect is the best way if you are going to use the .com that you do business with.

Often you see auto detect redirecting mobile devices to m.

Yes, exactly and I think this isn't for nothing because the .com is the most common extension, even for mobile sites.

Just in case (and with the release of the iPad), I got PornPad.mobi
but I have no idea if .mobi will turn into anything worth a darn.

If you have to ask...

bought topiphoneporn.mobi a while back and haven't done much with it. could probably, but dunno.

I think it's worthless. I got one super mobi domain. Had it from the start. "A la" sex.mobi
Ain't worth it.

i forgot about mobi domains