Yahoo announced the release of oneSearch 2.0, a new version of its award-winning mobile search service.
Key enhancements will allow users to initiate searches faster using text or voice.
Yahoo also plans to provide greater relevance through richer, more detailed search results by opening up Yahoo oneSearch to publishers to integrate content, simplify search input with Search Assist and voice-enabled search, and make search instantly accessible on the idle screen of many phones.
This looks like a pretty cool feature being able to search with your voice instead of pounding away with the 1,2 and 3’s
The big loser in this may again be the .mobi’s
As you know we are not a big believer in the .mobi extension.
The vast majority of people who use their cell phone to browse the internet are using the iphone, you know the one with the .com, and not the .mobi button.
Last month Google did not bid for the spectrum space auctioned off by the FCC last month. This may have given the .mobi platform a boost.
Now if you can search using your voice through Yahoo.com on your mobile phone where does the .mobi extension stand?
Certainly the future does not appear to us to be bright for click thru’s generated from .mobi’s.
In some part I think you are right but since the tech. world is constantly changing I am sure that the .mobi will be used as well.
When the first country code extenssions came up many people said and still say they are no good – which is not right (many of them sold for $500 thousand + ).
voice search would actually help mobis since now typing is involved you dont have the argument of the extra letter to type…btw I use foxbusiness.mobi every morning for a VERY fast market update
You’re just mad and jealous Michael that you missed the MOBI land rush! We’re not your grandfather’s DOT COM, you know.
I have about 60 good .mobi from the initial drop which we are holding onto, so i hope they are all worth a million in a few years, just don’t think so
On a journalism front, I have to say that you buried the lead to this story, which is, “We are not a big believer in the .mobi extension.”
If you were doing journalism, I’d expect you to contact dotMobi and ask for a comment about search, which is what this seemed to be about at the start of the piece. But since you didn’t, I’ll add ours here, which is, “That sounds cool.”
The company dotMobi has one mission, which is to help make the mobile web come to life. We think the .mobi domain is a good way to stem the confusion about indicating whether a site is designed for a mobile user. But as I said, our ultimate goal is to get everyone using the mobile web, so we applaud all steps that are helping that happen, like Yahoo OneSearch 2.0.
We like search. (Remember that Google and Microsoft are two of our fourteen investors). In fact, we like it so much that our R&D team developed a little search tool called find.mobi (htp://find.mobi), which was designed to search mobile sites only. It’s meant to demonstrate another way mobile search can be done.
(And while I can’t predict the future, it seems like PC-based search engines haven’t killed the value of any other TLDs, so maybe it’s a specious connection you’re trying to draw between search and “.mobi in trouble.”)
…in the end, “mobi” is just one more 4-letter word best left unsaid…and unused.
Search is the next big thing for mobile Internet. I think voice search could be quite powerful, but it has limitations. One being the current state affairs lends itself to no matter how a search is initiated, if it all it finds are .com sites or other TLD sites that crash your phone because the content is not appropriate you have nothing. You need a tutorial in mobile search.
Another issue is privacy. There are many situations where most people are in public with their mobile device and initiating a voice search could be rude, not appropriate for the situation at hand, or embarrassing. There are many cultures around the world that don’t tolerate speaking out loud in public (don’t have or can’t afford cars) and behaviours will have to change (not too likely) to make voice search work. Imagine “search for fetish sex” is not going to go over well in public.
I’m glad Yahoo came out with this product. It will only help to facilitate use of the mobile web and .mobi names even more.
And by the way, we do take phone calls and inquiries from serious responsible people who bother to contact us in advance before publishing such rubbish. You are entitled to your opinion. But tell us who you are if you are going to be company posting your opinion.
Mr. Hedderel & Mr. Brand
This blog has never represented itself as a journalist endeavor.
This blog is written by domainers for domainers.
We are not a news organization.
We are not going to get all sides of a story and then report on it.
We are not neutral.
We are domainers, and look at all things domain, from this perspective.
We relate developments in the domain industry and then opine on such issues.
Our opinion is given based on our experience in the industry, with no agenda.
We just call it as we see it.
A blog by definition is just that, “a specialized site that allows an individual or group of individuals to share a running log of events and personal insights with online audiences” (from “the Glossary of Common Communication Terms”).
Now to the substance of your post.
We are aware that Google is an investor in .mobi.
That is why we mention in our post that in OUR opinion that fact the Google did not bid for the recently auctioned spectrum space to launch their own communication network was bad news for .mobi.
Had Google went ahead as widely rumored ,and acquired a chunk of this space to launch its own wireless service, I would have anticipated that .mobi would have played a major roll.
You ask who we are. We are domainers. We own what many consider to be one of the 10 best privately owned domain portifillio’s in the world.
You cannot escape the fact that the largest dollar sales of .mobi names have been from directly from your registry to domainers.
Domainers have made all the large .mobi purchases.
Flowers.mobi
ringtones.mobi
poker.mobi
porn.mobi
We all know of all the high five and six figures .mobi, bought by domainers, so no reason to repeat them here.
Certainly domainers are substantially responsible for the perceived value of .mobi domains.
When a Domainer buys a domain, whether it is a .com, .net .org or .mobi, it is for one of 3 reasons, in no particular order:
1. PPC earnings from direct navigation
2. Appreciation of the domain’s value for later sale.
3. Development of the domain.
We do not see Yahoo announcement yesterday helping .mobi direct navigation traffic or PPC earning from .mobi’s
We see Yahoo program it as making direct navigation to a .mobi page much more unlightly.
Bad news for domainers.
If people are using voice search for direct navigation, I think they are much more lightly to ask for cars.com then cars.mobi, just as they are more lightly to type in on a computer a .com address than a .net, .org or .vu.
This is how I see it. It only makes logical sense to me.
Regarding your point that some social situations would make it more uncomfortable for people to search through voice then through text, I agree there are situations people should not use voice search, however I have seen nothing to stop people from holding conversations on their cell phone in the movies, small restaurants, public transportation, in line at the supermarket and in hundreds of other situations where it is not appropriate. Why would people be less prone to do voice search in such situations? The guy who will have a conversation on his cell in the middle of a movie theater will have no problem using voice search.
Regarding the appreciation of the .mobi domains, it will be years before we know if these investments appreciate in value.
.mobi may turn out to be a great investment, time will tell.
However yesterday news from Yahoo is doesn’t seem to us to help the extension.
We believe wide usage of developed .mobi sites are going to be required for these domain investments to appreciate.
Yahoo is using Yahoo.com not Yahoo.mobi for the voice search program.
The wall Street Journal is using WSJ.com for their cell version, not WSJ.mobi.
I know there are many .mobi sites, but for the extension to be successful major media outlets are going to have to use, promote and educate the consumer about using .mobi for cell phones and not .com’s
Maybe they will, time will tell.
Your article prompted me to check the stats on a mobi site of mine that has simple development, and has been up for over a year. My stats show unique visitors per month:
Dec 06 – 17 unique visitors
Jan 07 – 61
Feb 07 – 91
Mar 07 – 101
Apr 07 – 139
May 07 – 263
Jun 07 – 390
Jul 07 – 472
Aug 07 – 530
Sep 07 – 590
Oct 07 – 625
Nov 07 – 640
Dec 07 – 769
Jan 08 – 894
Feb 08 – 873
Mar 08 – 1,852
The trend line is better then most of my dot com sites. And I took a search phrase from the stats and typed it into my iPhone today, using regular Google search….and my site came up first. So, to me, the future looks pretty bright for my mobi portfolio.
Bob
What is the domain?
Is the domain Parked and is the revenue increasing as well?
The one I was describing is not really a premium mobi domain, it is http://DeliverPizza.mobi
I say it is not premium because the premium would be pizza itself or pizzadelivery, I would think. This name I regged after the landrush period was over. So at the time I guess it cost about $20 or so to register. It cost $100 to develop it at the time and has a little database that cost less then $50. I do have Admob ads on it at the moment, but it doesnt seem like a good program because it is not generating ads that are relevant to the content, but I am not really interested in taking the time to work on the revenue right now. Just so the traffic keeps growing, I can spend some time figuring how best to monetize it down the road.
Bob
Interesting.
One of the keys to the traffic growth I would think is that you developed it rather than just parked it.
My post was geared towards .mobi which have sold for 50K-200K and whether they will be a good investment long term and what voice search system yahoo is implementing will do to .mobi names.
What is you opinion on this.
If someone can go to Yahoo.com on their cell and say “pizza delivery in boca raton” do you think they will do that rather than typing in a .mobi address??
Regarding the premium mobi domains, I’m also pretty optimistic about the future prospects for my mobi names ‘coupons’ and ‘wine’, which were relatively expensive premiums. If they are developed with compelling content, I would think the search engines will index them just like they do the dot com sites, and then they should come up for typed-in searches or verbal searches as well. I have access to a lot of site stats packages, and I rarely see the word ‘com’ used in typed-in search phrases….just like the search you suggested, you described what you were specifically looking for…..a generic term and a geo term, not a website address.
As for someone verbalizing their search, my guess is that there will still be enough people who type in a search on their cell phone keypad using Google or Yahoo or MSN or ‘MicroYahoo’ search….all I need is a tiny slice of that pie to have a very good return on my investment. I’m certainly not banking on getting rich on that one mobi, it’s one of many that I have.
Mssrs. Hedderel & Brand,
Given how wonderful .mobi is, please share with Michael’s readers if you would:
1. The actual number (or percentage will do) of .mobis which have been built out and are in use according to your own “strict” registration requirements … is it even 10%? 5%? Less?
2. The number of .mobis you’ve taken back from registrants who’ve not met these “strict” requirements … zero, or close to it?
3. Are you actually going to enforce these “strict” requirements against any registrants? If so, when … and do you have a suitable legal fund set up if you try to do so?
Steve
While your at it why don’t you ask them why they are not a member of the ICA, an organization which represents domainers, which they have collected million of dollars from
Go ahead ask
Update
Just read a story today, Google in fact did bid for the recent government spectrum auction for Wireless services, however they were simply outbid by Verizon
In a post on the company’s blog, Google attorney Richard Whitt wrote that, “for many days during the early course of the auction, we were the high bidder” for the so-called “C block” of spectrum.
That block had rules attached to it that would open it up to a broader array of devices and applications than those provided directly by the spectrum’s owner, but only if bidding reached $4.6 billion.
“But it was clear, then and now, that Verizon Wireless ultimately was motivated to bid higher,” Whitt wrote.
Verizon ultimately won the C block spectrum, while Google did not come away with any licenses.
Just want to update this story with this new info
I’m glad to see that Pinky, Vance et al didn’t rise to the bait…. you guys are, as you freely admit – very biased.. you also have stand to suffer financially when dotmobi takes away business from your established domain name portfolio so I have to say well done to mTLD for having the good judgement to say their piece and then leave without getting drawn in to some cheap exchange of ‘skewed’ views.
A TLD is a TLD at the end of the day… and I don’t see you getting so worked up about dotbiz or dot.info domains – because you don’t see those as threatening to your cozy position up top…
It is clear from all domain blogs that dotmobi rattles the established domain community… which speaks volumes!
couple of glaring errors in ‘article’
firstly the majority of people suring mobile internet dont use iphones. not in march 2008 and not now
the developing world is huge. have you heard?
do some research
second point, porn.mobi was not bought by a domainer. it was bought by a big player in the adult industry
I don’t know…call me dumb.
Seems to me the ones that really lose are the ones that YET AGAIN have found the final nail for .mobi’s coffin.
It would be interesting to know, although I could personally care less, how many domainers have pronounced .mobi dying or dead by, DAMMIT! It still exists.
If one was to look back through your own blog (again, I really don’t care) since the release of .mobi, how many clips will seem similar to this headline – yet another death of .mobi.
Thank God for the new gTLD’s in the fire.
Perhaps domainers and bloggers will finally get it right – someone MUST die. Some domain extension MUST die.
Why? Because we don’t like it.
(We, being the miniature sect of a global population discussing domain names to begin with of which perhaps 1/10 of 1% of domainers even read this thread).
Domainers don’t control the internet.
They just wish they did.
Ha, a guy fight. You gents make me chuckle. Strong opinions on both sides of the fence.
Who says everybody doesn’t use an iPhone? Lol. Six months after these posts it’s a different ballgame.
Tonight us the first time I’ve ever read domainer blogs but I had already decided, personally, I didn’t like .mobi as an extension. However, the word itself I like a LOT, it’s a very cute/cool word & fun to use to create email names and domains but by incorporating the word itself into a regular .com name which let’s you use it at the beginning or the end.
I also Love my iPhone & have used the iBook only one time since I got the iPhone in July.
Forget .info .biz etc. I guess I’m from the old .com school.