.mobi - The .com of 2006? - dnvw.com

Posted in.mobi,Editorial at 4:11 am by admin
How many of you have an internet enabled phone?  If you have a Treo (or similar device) you are probably beginning to realize how significant the domain extension .mobi may prove to be.
Earlier today I decided to check-outhttp://www.bmw.mobi/, one of the first live .mobi sites.
As the page loaded I thought this is the one, and so far only extension, that makes sense for companies to develop in addition to what I will call their “primary domain extension” or PDE for short.
First, a brief history of the .mobi extension.  This top-level domain extension was approved with the intention of providing a specific extension for the development of websites compatible with mobile technology.
Registration for trademark holders was available about six months ago and open registration began about two months ago.  To date, all LLL.mobi and NNN.mobi domains have been registered.  That is correct - in less than sixty days ALL LLL.mobi and NNN.mobi have been registered.
Why .mobi may just succeed
When you look at the top-level domain extensions .com, .net, .org, .info, .biz, .us, .ca, etc. there is no need for a company to develop more then one of these extensions.  In fact, with only a few exceptions, it would be counter-productive from a marketing and advertising standpoint to develop multiple PDE’s.  (The sole exception to this would be CCTLD’s and we will discuss that in a future post.)
We all know that the homepage for Pepsi is http://www.pepsi.com/ - their PDE.  There is no reason for Pepsi to develop and market pepsi.net, pepsi.info or pepsi.biz and it would create confusion if they did so.
However, it does make sense for Pepsi to develop a .mobi site because .mobi appears to represent more than a domain extension, it appears represent new platform and technology for accessing the internet.
“Pepsi.mobi - The Site for New Generation” (my own tagline) will make sense to the next generation of active consumers who have grown-up with MySpace, instant messaging, and text messaging and are using mobile technology more then ever.
.mobi users will be comfortable checking email on their phones, grabbing a look at the web on their Blackberry and laughing with friends at a bar while looking at pictures on a Treo.  They will be active and no longer tied to a desktop or laptop computer.
So what does this mean for .mobi?
1.  Because so many large companies developed .com sites, the awareness and acceptance of the .net, .biz and .info extensions was slowed.  How many Fortune 500 companies do you know with a developed .biz or .info website?
However, with the rapidly increasing use of this unique new mobile technology platform it will become a business necessity for large companies to develop .mobi sites.
Because it is the only extension for this platform one would expect companies to embrace the extension similar to .com in the 1980’s and 1990’s.  Besideswww.bmw.mobi, check-outwww.businessweek.mobi, orwww.weather.mobi
2.  As large companies promote their .mobi sites this TLD will gain awareness and acceptance that no other extension has had since - well .com? That is the key word - acceptance, meaning it is second-nature to go to a .mobi site when logging onto the web.  Remember, no longer does logging onto the web mean using a computer.  More and more it means using mobile technology.
3.  There will be multiple companies competing for the .mobi extensions of the PDE they already own.  It is simple supply and demand because it makes sense for almost any company with a PDE to develop the .mobi extension.  This should help the secondary market for generic .mobi’s.
Let’s look at another example. www.heat.com is the online home of the NBA’s Miami Heat, but “heat” is a generic word having nothing to do with basketball.  It would make no sense for the Miami Heat to develop and promote the .net, .info, or .biz extensions because their PDE is so widely recognized.
However, it would make sense for a heating and air conditioning company in Arizona to develop and advertise/marketwww.heat.biz orwww.heat.info as their PDE.
What does this have to do with .mobi?  It is the one and only domain extension that makes sense for all companies with an existing PDE to develop and promote - regardless what top level domain extension their PDE is.
It would make sense for the Miami Heat to developwww.heat.mobi as a site for Heat fans on the go to get the latest score, player transactions, etc.
But it would also make sense for the heating and air conditioning company in Arizona to develop www.heat.mobi with their contact information, rates and hours of operation.  Your computer may not be turned on when your air conditioning breaks but your mobile is always with you.
It is also important to remember it will cost companies almost nothing to market and advertise their .mobi sites.  “Log ontowww.pepsi.com or for those on the go check-outwww.pepsi.mobi.”  It’s an extra 2-3 seconds in a 30 second television commercial or an extra line of text at the bottom of print ad.
So does this make .mobi the .com of 2006?  In its simplest form, .com was the original top-level domain extension which was used for websites.  For the past twenty years those website have been accessed on computers - desktops and laptops.
In contrast to other “new” top-level domain extensions (.net, .biz, .info), .mobi may actually represent a shift in the platform used to access the internet.  If that is the case, .mobi may just be today’s version of .com.
Please feel free to post your comments or send them toadmin@dnvw.com
**Disclaimer: The editor of this post owns two .mobi domains.  The information in this post should not be considered investment advice and is intended solely for informational/editorial purposes.**