When we first got in to domains in late 2006, all the hype was surrounding .mobi and how it would revolutionize mobile web browsing. People had invested heavily and were now building up a great wave of momentum behind the extension.
“Fools gold” exasperated experienced domainers. Still, we invested in around 40 domains. Some dictionary words, some long-tail keywords. We even developed a .mobi mini-site!
Then came the realisation that .mobi was 1, possibly 2, characters too long. Futhermore, the majority of mobile sites redirected users to a sub-domain instead of a .mobi website.
Ultimately, we sold 90% of our .mobi portfolio for a loss, or, even let the unsold domains drop. In a fortunate twist of events, we received a good offer on a .mobi which was in redemption-period and ended up in the black.
The important aspect was that we had experienced ‘domaining hype’. We learnt from our .mobi mistakes and applied the principles to later domain hoopla such as the LLLL.com buy out.
