Domain name extension .mobi - Domain Analysis Foundation

History

This domain was used by users to clearly identify that a site was meant for mobile devices, particularly cell phones or PDAs. Until a few years ago, in fact, traditional internet sites could not be reached by mobile phone as it is today, because the power of mobile browsers was not even remotely comparable to that of desktop browsers. So for many sites, one of which is Wikipedia, versions were created that were optimized to be viewed by phones, which were distinguished from the main site to have the .mobi suffix.

Then, in 2007, Apple and its iPhone changed the cards: mobile browsers have thus become more efficient and, over the years, they have begun to be able to visit sites designed for computers, so much so that today there is virtually no difference in experience in terms of use.

Not only: to date, developers know very well how to optimize a website in various versions, so that if the same site is viewed from Mobile or from a computer, they have two different versions but with the same contents. This way you can manage only one site and not two.

In light of these changes, the .mobi domain has changed in the last few years: if a series of restrictions were previously envisaged relating to the fact that the sites had to be fully optimized for mobile devices according to a set of rules, including the language of programming, today these restrictions would have made very little sense, so they were removed, leaving .mobi as an extension very similar to the many new extensions that can be found today.

But, in light of this story, to whom does a .mobi domain serve today? We can say that most private individuals and companies do not need such a thing, because a much simpler optimization is enough.

Will .mobi domain names be enough to convert users to use the mobile internet? Nothing is less certain, according to analysts for whom this approach will not solve the differences in navigation between PCs and phones.

Website, which are with the .mobi domain name extension must ensure optimal display of web content on mobile devices. But according to analysts, the domain name will not change anything. The development of the mobile internet passes a better design of web pages.

“It’s a marketing move,” says Windsor Holden, an analyst for telecommunications consulting firm. “It will not make it any easier to access the content … in fact, it will only be typing several more letters.” Creating a .mobi version of a site was not the “magic bullet,” he adds, to target the mobile market. Given the convergence trend between fixed and mobile communications, site designers “need to understand that their content will be accessible across a wide variety of devices.”

Need trademark protection

An opinion shared by James Enck, an analyst at Daiwa Securities: “The problem is not so much domain names as web design.” The example to follow, he adds, is for example the Gmail, which resizes automatically when viewed on a mobile device. A display that he describes as “ideal”. “Having a separate domain name to achieve this result is therefore useless,” he added.

Domain registrars are more optimistic, noting the “strong interest” that .mobi has enjoyed throughout its pre-registration period. “This is our most popular area since the opening of the recordings to the public, ahead of .co.uk, .com and .net,” said a spokesman for the British “registrar” Fasthosts on Wednesday.

Improve the user experience

The first applicants, he explains, were for the most part “operators of fixed and mobile telephony and companies, motivated by a desire to protect their brand”. A need for security, not to mention the awareness “of the many opportunities this operation presents for specialized mobile websites,” he admits.

However, predicts Windsor Holden, the first wave of registrants could be “people starting out for fear of missing out on something”. It was necessary to focus more on “improving the user experience with mobile so that this real opportunity to optimize the mobile Internet is not spoiled”.

“Applications like the Opera browser do it anyway. But ultimately, the solution is not to suddenly want to create a special category, but rather to facilitate access already on the PC-based Internet, “he concluded.