Dish DBS launches .mobile domains, and an SEO specialist says it’s already helped her a lot.
It seems a bit odd to write about a new top level domain from the 2012 round going live this week, given that applications for the next round open in just a few months.
And yet, Dish DBS is launching .mobile into early access today.
While some may be quick to compare this domain to .mobi, that was launched in a different time for a different purpose (offering a mobile version of your website before sites became responsive).
Dish is running a 14-day early access period, which seems like overkill. It will follow the typical Dutch auction format for early access, with domains starting at a high price and decreasing each day.
For a point of reference, 101Domain’s first-day price is $11,999, dropping to $2,599 by the fifth day, $299 by the tenth day, and $179 on the last day.
After early access, general availability will begin on February 19. 101Domain is charging $22.99 for standard registrations.
Dish has a handful of other top level domains it hasn’t launched yet, the most interesting of which is probably .data.
If you need convincing to get your .mobile domain, the official get.mobile website features testimonials from three highly photogenic people:
There’s Emile, founder of MoveQuick. He’s busy; he’s is also apparently tutoring under the name Lucas while serving as a pitchman for “moob reduction” for a cosmetic surgeon, according to a Google reverse image. Mobile marketer John and SEO specialist Sophia also have many roles at other companies. But hey, moving to a .mobile domain worked for them, and might for you, too.
Wow. Who signed off on those “testomonials”? The domain industry can do better. Every “Emile”, “John”, and “Sophia” makes it harder for other registry operators to earn trust, harder for registrars to sell domains with confidence, and harder for the industry to mature. If a registry operator is publishing what appears to be fake claims/testimonials, then what else are resellers and potential end user registrants to believe? Trust takes years to build and seconds to destroy. In the this case it took as long as a Google reverse image (Google Lens) search.