The health of mobi

[Gerry]

On January 21, 2007 I ran a scan of available NNNN.mobi domain names. At the time of that scan there were 6,621 NNNN combinations remaining.

As of today, just a few moments ago, I re-ran the scan and the tally is 2,696.

I am no expert on .mobi but I have some observations to relate.

In my opinion, no one extension is more appropriate to numbers than the .mobi. Mobile devices, such as cell phones, PDA’s and others, outnumber PC’s on a scale of 3 to 1 internationally and will continue to outpace their computer counterparts. Society on a global scale is going smaller, more efficient, and simply more mobile.

All cell phones, needless to say, have numerical keypads. In the future this may not be the case as more voice activated technology and recognition systems become commonplace along with an alpha keyboard of sorts. Even with a voice activated system, numbers will still be used in speech.

Numbers are universal in scope whereas the alphabet as we know it is not. Language barriers will prevent universal acceptance and recognition of words whereas numbers will not change in their meaning.

All LLL.mobi and NNN.mobi are taken.

In addition, needless to say the hot common and generic words are taken.

NNNNN.mobi is an option but for those that are thinking zip codes, these are either all taken or reserved for that very purpose.

So where does that leave the .mobi number market?

In fine shape.

Each number on the phone keypad represents letters with the exception of the numbers 1 and 0. I have written on this previously but it bears worth repeating as now we find the availabitly of the NNNN.mobi market nearly 60% less than it was about three weeks ago.

Look at your phone and instead of seeing numbers, see words. Here are a couple of handy tools.

www.t9.com will convert numbers into letters
www.whi.ms contains a list of all remaining NNNN.mobi
http://www.math.utoronto.ca/jjchew/s...s/twl98-4.html is a four letter word list.

So you have the tools, time to start building. Using these tools and looking at the numbers remaining, rather than just have numbers have numbers that have some meat to it. For instance, ODDS.mobi was already registered. This would be a great sports betting site.

6337.mobi was not. This is the numeric equivalent to the word ODDS. For most cell phones that do not have an alpha keypad, to me, it would be much easier for someone to tell me to dial 6337 (ODDS) rather than to simply say call ODDS. You would still have to look at the numeric keypad and hunt for the letters corresponding to the number and you end up inputting numbers to begin with.

Look at like those late night commercials that tell you, “CALL 1-800-TALK”. They usually have the number located above or below the text…8255.

Another couple of points I would like to make. Unless you simply want to register an NNNN.mobi for the sake of registering a .mobi, I would recommend not selecting on that begins with the number 0. If you were to put in 0 as the first number, you may end up getting the operator. So there is another 55 numbers you can eliminate from the current list. Also, the 1 is usually reserved as a punctuation key. If you don’t mind your alpha translation starting with the number 1 that represents a period (.) on the alpha pad, then that is another 158 on the current list that starts with the number that you can potentially eliminate.

Basically, the way I view it is numbers for the sake of numbers is one thing. But numbers that can easily convert to text? Now that’s something to consider.

[Devil Dog]

Thanks for the info.

[1john2004]

Interesting thoughts,
Thanks,

[Gerry]

Just for the heck of it, I re-ran the list.

The current count is 2,561, down from 2,692 in 10 hours time since my post.

No, I don't plan on having minute by minute updates.

Also found it humourous that several that were available last night that have now been regged are being posted for appraisals.

Massive hysteria in the .mobi world!

[EJS]

Just for the heck of it, I re-ran the list.

The current count is 2,561, down from 2,692 in 10 hours time since my post.

No, I don't plan on having minute by minute updates.

Also found it humourous that several that were available last night that have now been regged are being posted for appraisals.

I see only one, and I appraised it at reg. fee. There are over 26% of available NNNN.mobi names around for everyone to register. This doesn't even count the massive amount that will end up not being renewed and dropped at the same time because people aren't making money reselling them. NNNN.net names have been gone for a while and they are still selling for only $12 - $30/each.

To me, it looks like you are doing your best cheerleading job with all your NNNN.mobi posts, hoping others will see these names "rapidly" disappearing and register them, hoping that the law of supply and demand will propel the values of these names through the roof. Apparently it is working, but I highly doubt these people will see much ROI, with the exception of the top 1% of names. Even though the supply may theoretically deplete, I don't see the demand keeping pace.

One reason for the high values of numeric names, mainly NN.com/.net/.org, NNN.com/.net/.org, NNNN.com and NNNNN.com (aside from the intrinsic value) is that only a few people own most of these names. They infrequently sell, causing much upward pressure on the prices. The hasn't happened with other numeric names (NNNN.net/.org, NNNNN.net/.org) because many people own small amounts of these names and they are easily purchased in the aftermarket. There are plenty of people happy to sell their NNNN.net names for $25 because it is 3x more than they paid. I think the same thing will happen with .mobi names.

[Gerry]

To me, it looks like you are doing your best cheerleading job with all your NNNN.mobi posts, hoping others will see these names "rapidly" disappearing and register them, hoping that the law of supply and demand will propel the values of these names through the roof.

All my NNNN.mobi posts consists of a grand total of (drumroll please) TWO.

Yes, the names are rapidly disappearing. What sparked my interest in updating this is another forum and their assessment.

Your opinion and my opinion does not change the fact that three weeks ago there was nearly 6700. As of today, less than 2600.

I made this post as a service for others, because I have the software to do it, because there is obvious interest in this subject, and to just entertain myself. It was my personal assessment of the mobi industry and what may account for the rapid decline in .mobi NNNN.

Yes, there is about 25-26% of the NNNN mobi left. But that is down 60% from three weeks ago.

No where can I see a more appropriate place for numerical domain names than in the .mobi arena.

[mjnels]

ive posted much more than circa about this... and yes, it is because i own a fair number of decent NNNN.mobis.... ive never encouraged anyone to register tho, even quite the opposite by stating i dunno what theyre gonna do with all those random NNNN's

but i also agree that number domains *could* finnally make sense with this TLD.. nobody knows how or when or even IF.. but, as we all know in the game of speculation once the answers are all present it would no longer be possible to acquire said items for registration fee..

i still think at least 1/5 of them will drop come February 2008... but i believe they will eventually be picked up by somebody pretty quick.

[Gerry]

ive posted much more than circa about this... and yes, it is because i own a fair number of decent NNNN.mobis.... ive never encouraged anyone to register tho, even quite the opposite by stating i dunno what theyre gonna do with all those random NNNN's

but i also agree that number domains *could* finnally make sense with this TLD.. nobody knows how or when or even IF.. but, as we all know in the game of speculation once the answers are all present it would no longer be possible to acquire said items for registration fee..

i still think at least 1/5 of them will drop come February 2008... but i believe they will eventually be picked up by somebody pretty quick.

I did not readily buy into mobi (literally) after the .eu fiasco.

But I have studied trends and provided my assessment of the .mobi and in particular numbers.

Owning domain names with numbers for the sake of numbers never made much sense to me, unless they were obvious like zip codes, area codes, sequential, etc.

But .mobi was and is different. Mobile devices will eventually evolve to the point of no keypads but numerics will always be present in one form or fashion. And with the universal acceptance of numbers having the same value in any culture (some numbers even having greater value) I think this has wide use and application.

Giving the fact that even in some major cities you have to dial 10 numbers using conventional phone lines to call down a few blocks to place an order, this is also a tremendous opportunitity to shorten your brand even more.

[shopperx]

The same happened with LLL.mobi, and a few days later... all gone! now they sell 10x their original value (at least).

I think it's just a matter of time before someone regs the rest of them. I will keep an eye on the list too.

shopperx

[mjnels]

The same happened with LLL.mobi, and a few days later... all gone! now they sell 10x their original value (at least).

I think it's just a matter of time before someone regs the rest of them. I will keep an eye on the list too.

shopperx

well, just because theyll be gone doesnt mean they will go up in value as quick as the LLL...

i bought out the rest of the N-N and L-L .mobi's back when someone was doing a countdown and about 50% of each were left, they didnt go up in value nor did i expect them to immediately..

[shopperx]

well, just because theyll be gone doesnt mean they will go up in value as quick as the LLL

Thats right, NNNN wont be as valuable as LLL in any extension. Dont expect the value to increase inmediately.

Always keep in mind the following things before registering a domain:

- Are you willing to renew the domain after x years if you don't sell it?
- Are you willing to develop/keep it if your are not receiving offers for it?
- Can you find a better Domain to invest your money into it?
- Do you think you can sell it in a s/m/l term and get a decent profit for it?
- Do you need the money you are going to invest in that domain?

If the answers are:
- yes
- yes
- no
- yes
- no

then reg the domain.

shopperx

[Gerry]

i bought out the rest of the N-N and L-L .mobi's back when someone was doing a countdown and about 50% of each were left, they didnt go up in value nor did i expect them to immediately..

I think this was a damn good move on your part. I am in the minority of acceptance of the hyphen in these short domains knowing what the scarcity of them are (L-L = 676 and N-N = 100). I am sure this was pure speculation but I think this will pay off in the long run.

In my opinion, L-L and N-N may not make much sense or seem practical at this very moment, but it is all about branding and marketing which many fail to take into consideration. We look at some numbers and words and they are no brainers. But to take something and make into something noteworthy is a whole different approach. Good move on your part!

[mjnels]

I think this was a damn good move on your part. I am in the minority of acceptance of the hyphen in these short domains knowing what the scarcity of them are (L-L = 676 and N-N = 100). I am sure this was pure speculation but I think this will pay off in the long run.

In my opinion, L-L and N-N may not make much sense or seem practical at this very moment, but it is all about branding and marketing which many fail to take into consideration. We look at some numbers and words and they are no brainers. But to take something and make into something noteworthy is a whole different approach. Good move on your part!

actually, i questioned the value of them when i bought them, but did it anyway.

not sure if you have heard, but i sold u-t.mobi to the SanFransico Union-Tribune for $3,000 on sedo, it should be on their frontpage anytime now.. 25th largest newspaper in the U.S. in terms of circulation..

[Gerry]

actually, i questioned the value of them when i bought them, but did it anyway.

not sure if you have heard, but i sold u-t.mobi to the SanFransico Union-Tribune for $3,000 on sedo, it should be on their frontpage anytime now.. 25th largest newspaper in the U.S. in terms of circulation..

BRAVO! I rest my case. Some of my largest sales have come from L-L.com. LLL is so price prohibitive in many instances that companies have no qualms about looking at alternatives.

Congrats! that one sale paid those reg fees.

By the way, I'm running a scan of the 15,000 top english dictionary words. Very time consuming. Program taking quite some time to distinguish between mobi and other domains. Tried another that was much faster but the error rate was very high. Sometimes slow and easy is ggggggggoooooooooooddddddddd!

Anyways, this list should cause quite a stir. Some dynamite words. Shocked to see many of these not snatched up. To each his/her own, but I thought CHATTED.MOBI was decent enough to reg. After all, what is mobi all about?

Again, I would recommend steering away from regging words for the sake of regging words. Ones that have bite to them and apply to the mobile market or people on the go are the key.

Why am I doing this? Curiosity mostly. Sure, I'll reg some (already did) but will gladly share the list. Hell, I can't reg them all.

Thats right, NNNN wont be as valuable as LLL in any extension. Dont expect the value to increase inmediately.

Always keep in mind the following things before registering a domain:

- Are you willing to renew the domain after x years if you don't sell it?
- Are you willing to develop/keep it if your are not receiving offers for it?
- Can you find a better Domain to invest your money into it?
- Do you think you can sell it in a s/m/l term and get a decent profit for it?
- Do you need the money you are going to invest in that domain?

If the answers are:
- yes
- yes
- no
- yes
- no

then reg the domain.

shopperx

By the way, not a bad formula for justifying our addiction!

[freeconnect2000]

Greetings,

I spent several hours over a few days and came up with this list of
NNNN.mobi's that have corresponding recognizable names. Enjoy and good luck:

2438 chev

2457 ails

2467 aims

2483 bite

2675 cork

2683 ante

2687 coup

2695 bowl

2837 buds

2843 avid

2897 buys

3245 fail

3247 fair

3275 dark

3476 firm

3625 dock

3675 fork

3685 foul

3687 four

3689 envy

3845 evil

3859 duly

3865 funk

3867 dump

3875 dusk

3879 fury

3926 exam

3948 exit

4253 half

4257 gals

4276 harm

4279 gary

4283 have

4285 haul

4293 gaze

4295 hawk

4328 heat

4359 idly

4372 herb

4387 gets

4396 hewn

4523 glad

4536 glen

4583 glue

4586 glum

4623 goad

4629 hoax

4673 hope

4682 iota

4687 hour

4695 howl

4723 grad

4729 gray

4769 grow

4782 grub

4826 ivan

4827 hubs

4836 item

4837 hues

4853 gulf

4857 gulp

4865 hunk

4875 hurl

4826 ivan

4827 hubs

4973 hype

5237 lads

5239 lady

5243 laid

5247 lair

5267 lamp

5273 lard

5274 lash

5278 last

5289 katy

5296 lawn

5326 jean

5327 leap

5347 legs

5367 lens

5368 lent

5378 kept

5387 lets

5397 keys

5423 lice

5427 liar

5823 lube

5826 juan

5836 kudo

5839 judy

5847 luis

5863 june

5864 lung

5873 lure

5874 lush

5879 jury

5957 lymp

5973 lyra

6238 obey

6247 mags

6253 make

6257 oaks

6258 malt

6273 mare

6274 mash

6279 mary

6287 oats

6289 navy

6293 maze

6294 nazi

6325 neck

6327 near

6328 meat

6342 mega

6347 megs

6358 melt

6374 mesh

6382 meta

6387 nets

6394 mexi

6398 next

6423 nice

6425 nick

6457 oils

6458 milt

6459 oily

6472 misc

6473 mire

6483 mite

6749 orgy

6824 much

6825 oval

6837 over

6847 mugs

6873 muse

6874 mush

6875 musk

6957 owls

6984 myth

7235 radi

7238 raft

7245 rail

7258 salt

7263 same

7264 sang

7265 rank

7268 scot

7269 scow

7284 path

7285 paul

7296 pawn

7326 sean

7328 seat

7346 rein

7356 relo

7359 rely

7364 semi

7384 seth

7423 rice

7425 pick

7426 sham

7429 shaw

7438 rift

7453 pile

7458 silt

7463 shoe

7482 pits

7483 site

7486 shun

7489 pity

7526 plan

7532 plea

7543 slid

7548 slit

7663 plod

7564 slog

7568 plot

7569 slow

7584 plug

7624 snag

7632 sofa

7638 soft

7643 snif

7682 snub

7683 rote

7684 snug

7685 soul

7823 quad

7824 such

7826 stan

7829 stay

7836 stem

7839 stew

7843 quid

7846 ruin

7849 quiz

7853 rule

7864 sung

7865 sunk

7869 puny

7946 swim

7962 sync

8245 tail

8246 vain

8253 take

8263 tame

8265 tank

8267 vans

8273 tape

8279 vary

8325 veal

8327 tear

8342 vega

8346 vein

8367 tens

8376 term

8379 very

8423 vice

8425 tick

8429 thaw

8436 them

8439 they

8453 vile

8459 ugly

8469 tiny

8473 tire

8637 toes

8639 undy

8643 void

8649 unix

8653 told

8672 torc

8673 tore

8679 tory

8726 tram

8735 trek

8743 urge

8746 trim

8946 twin

8967 twos

8973 type

8976 typo

9243 wage

9248 wait

9253 wake

9264 wang

9265 yank

9273 yard

9274 wash

9276 warm

9283 wave

9324 yeah

9325 weak

9326 wean

9357 yelp

9362 xena

9368 went

9387 zeus

9425 wick

9453 wild

9458 wilt

9462 zinc

9465 wink

9467 wins

9487 wits

9637 woes

9683 wove

9687 your

9736 wren

9748 writ

9846 yugo

[Gerry]

Greetings,

I spent several hours over a few days and came up with this list of
NNNN.mobi's that have corresponding recognizable names. Enjoy and good luck:

WAY COOL!

[fautebol]

One reason for the high values of numeric names, mainly NN.com/.net/.org, NNN.com/.net/.org, NNNN.com and NNNNN.com (aside from the intrinsic value) is that only a few people own most of these names. They infrequently sell, causing much upward pressure on the prices. The hasn't happened with other numeric names (NNNN.net/.org, NNNNN.net/.org) because many people own small amounts of these names and they are easily purchased in the aftermarket. There are plenty of people happy to sell their NNNN.net names for $25 because it is 3x more than they paid. I think the same thing will happen with .mobi names.

I only have 2 NNNN.mobi and I'm not sure at all about the future value. However, there is indeed a few people owning quite a substantial part of NNNN.mobi.