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DotMobi giving away 1 and 2 character domains!
Thursday, January 29. 2009
Registrar and registry representatives attending ICANN's Rome regional gathering last week. Photo SVG.
During my stay in Rome last week for the ICANN registrars and registries regional conference, I ran into my good friend Francesco Cetraro. This was the first time I have seen Francesco in his new job as Manager of Business Development and Sales for the .MOBI registry DotMobi.
Francesco looked thrilled to be working for one of the more dynamic of the new top level domains. He wasted no time in reminding me of DotMobi's innovative spirit, using the way they are releasing their 1 and 2 character domains as an example.
For domain names, the shorter the better. Hence 1 and 2 character names are the Holy Grail of our industry: an extremely rare resource with a strong intrinsic value. Most TLDs actually set a minimum length of 3 characters and don't allow shorter domains to even be registered. That was initially the case for DotMobi's, until their asked ICANN for permission to release 1 and 2 character .MOBIs.
But how do you distribute such valuable domains in a way which helps maximise their potential? Auction them off and you might make a tidy profit, but you'd have no guarantee that the domains would then be put to good use. The richest applicants aren't always the most productive. Some might even just be speculators…
So DotMobi opted to give the domains away. That's right, 1 and 2 character domains won't cost their registrants a thing beyond a 500 USD fee for processing their application! DotMobi are basically issuing a "request for proposals" (RFP) and saying to the community: "we'll give our most valuable domains to those who come up with the best ways to use them." As .MOBI is a very service-oriented TLD, and as accessing a .MOBI website on a mobile device is more comfortable if the domain name is short, this RFP might produce some ingenious mobile web content.
DotMobi has already begun taking proposals for their 1 and 2 character names and there's no time limit to the RFP. If you want to submit a proposal, your friendly MOBI accredited registrar INDOM will be glad to help!
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