dotMobi

December 22, 2006

By Tom Foremski for Silicon Valley Watcher

Accessing the Internet from cell phones is possible but the experience is poor. Mobile web browser performance is clunky, few web sites are designed for cell phone access, and the customer bill can be astronomical.

I recently spoke with Alexa Raad, who heads up marketing and business development at dotMobi, a startup whose mission is to make the mobile Internet an everyday reality instead of an expensive curiosity. A key part of its strategy is establishing the domain name extension .mobi to designate web sites that support mobile browsers.

But why should businesses buy a .mobi extension when their web servers already detect the type of browser and can be set up to automatically serve up a mobile version of a web page?

"The extension tells users that the web site supports mobile browsers and conforms to standards that guarantee a fast download and probably has low access costs," says Ms Raad. "Some web pages can cost users as much as $10 to download because they aren't designed for mobile devices or the developers aren't aware of the costs."

The operators of .mobi web sites agree to abide by three mandatory rules: no use of frames on the web sites because these are difficult to render by mobile web browsers; no use of the www prefix in the name of the web site; use of XML in creating web sites. If these rules aren't met, dotMobi has the right to revoke the use of the .mobi extension.

These are very easy conditions to meet, and most regular web sites would already be compliant anyway, because these are best practices for any kind of site. This doesn't mean they would be mobile-friendly.

To produce web sites that load fast on mobile devices, and won't cost users a fortune in data costs, takes much more effort. That's why dotMobi has created free development packages and support forums for developers to cut the cost of creating .mobi sites. Tools include ways to calculate the cost of downloading a web page depending upon the data package of the wireless carrier.

The company is funded by Nokia, Microsoft, Vodafone and other strategic investors. The money is used to create the development tools, plus there is revenue from registering .mobi and common extensions.

"We want to make sure that the user experience with .mobi sites is good. We don't want a few bad apples spoiling the neighborhood, that's why we will cancel registrations if web site owners don't abide by mandatory rules," says Ms Raad.

But the biggest obstacle to the realization of dotMobi's mission are the wireless carriers. They have stuck customers with hundreds of dollars in charges because of complex Internet data packages. Combined with the poor performance of mobile browsers, many early users of the mobile Internet have already been turned off from the experience.

Ms Raad is very much aware of this issue, but hopes that the wireless carriers will come up with inexpensive Internet access packages. "Europe is much further ahead in this area than we are in the US, so I'm hoping that things will change," she says. She adds that wireless carriers are among investors in dotMobi.

Foremski's Take: The wireless carriers aren't going to give up their lucrative gateway position. They make a fortune standing between the mobile Internet and the consumer.

Even if tens of thousands of high quality .mobi web sites spring up, that won't mean much because the wireless carriers can easily substitute their online services, or those of partners.

They won't need to block .mobi sites but they can make them a click or three further away. And on the cramped user interface of mobile devices, that's like sending .mobi sites to Siberia.

There are also other obstacles created by the wireless carriers.  A senior executive from a startup mobile search firm told me that video services from major wireless carriers hog much of available wireless data bandwidth, cutting off even the partners of wireless carriers.

The promises of the mobile Internet, at least in the US, won't arrive until there are ways of getting around the wireless carriers. Technologies such as WiMAX, which offers high speed wireless data across large distances, could get around the gateway stranglehold.

Intel (an SVW sponsor) is working on making WiMAX capabilities standard in notebook computers, and others are working on the WiMAX infrastructure. But it will be several years before WiMAX based services are widely available.

In short, the mobile Internet will be a long time coming, blocked by the greed of wireless carriers. These companies are rapidly becoming the largest obstacle to technological progress and the development of Internet economies, IMHO.

- - -

Please also see:

SPONSORWATCH INTEL WiMAX can make a difference. - Evolution of Mobile Internet Gadgets - Did you know? 25 Random Things About Intel - Embedded" Computers, Retail Shopping and Growth - The Less talked about feature in New Xeons. - Portland Youth Experience WiMAX "Outside the Walls"

SPONSORWATCH TIBCO TIBCO's First Hardware Delivers Quantum Leap Performance – Changing the Game for Enterprise IT TIBCO Positioned as a Leader for SOA Governance in 2009 Magic Quadrant TIBCO Contributes General Interface to the Open Source Community Comments Jonathan Mendez on Why Ad Networks And Exchanges Will Never Help Publishers Great post. I believe publishers can have advertising supported businesses. In fact I don't think that's debatable. First though they need better tools to leverage their audience data and their own ad matching systems. Essentially they need to build a new improved display channel. New pub controlled networks could then emerge that would crush the performance of what exists today. Then all the margin eating middle men would vanish and both ends of the transaction get yet more value from the m Tom Foremski on Is the Future Of News Dependent On The Generosity Of Billionaire Philanthropists? Eric, What's wrong with making a reasonable profit as a news organization? I agree with you that there is a race to the bottom going on because the econopmics of online news continue to worsen. At some point, we have to figure out how to reward news organizations doing a good job otherwise we are in serious trouble as a society. That's what I would like to see Mr Hellman's money go towards -- figuring out a solution to one of the most difficult problems we have. There's not Tom Foremski on Techmeme's Gabe Rivera Is More Editor Than Aggregator... Gabe: You should get a press pass and if you don't, you should ban SXSW stories from Techmeme. (SXSW gets very noisy, you'd be doing us all a big favor :) Gabe on Techmeme's Gabe Rivera Is More Editor Than Aggregator... Tom, two points: 1. You are a strange man. 2. Press passes cost $299? You sure? In any case I wasn't offered one. Please reread my tome on this matter: http://twitter.com/gaberivera/status/10238453895 Eric Westby on Is the Future Of News Dependent On The Generosity Of Billionaire Philanthropists? Money is neither noble or ignoble. It is value-neutral. You seem convinced that this project will be exclusively funded by the ultra-rich; obviously BANP's hope is that the community will step up and slowly allow the organization to be weaned off Hellman's seed money. I wish them luck -- but to be honest, the track record for local endeavors of this type isn't great so far. Still, I respect them for removing the profit motive, which can be corrosive and lead to a "race to the bottom" Tom Foremski on Techmeme's Gabe Rivera Is More Editor Than Aggregator... Danny: I agree... But press passes aren't free this year. They cost $299. Gabe can afford $299. Marshall Clark on The Dirty Little Secret About Marketing... This sums it up perfectly: 'Advertising doesn't sell stuff' by Dave Trott http://digg.com/u1Ps9L Tom Foremski on Is the Future Of News Dependent On The Generosity Of Billionaire Philanthropists? Eric: What's so noble about a non-profit status in regards to news organizations? What's so noble about relying on handouts from billionaires to produce local news? If we can develop profitable news business models then we will have competition, and that is good for news, good for everyone. San Francisco used to have more than a dozen daily newspapers. Each one trying to compete for the best news, uncover corruption in City hall, and all the other muckracking activities that Eric Westby on Is the Future Of News Dependent On The Generosity Of Billionaire Philanthropists? While I'm no fan of the way the BANP has acquitted itself thus far, your comment that "There's plenty of 'non-profit' media businesses around, the largest local one is the San Francisco Chronicle." is glib to the point of meaninglessness. As I'm sure you're aware, an organization's not-for-profit status is far more germane to its mission than to its ability to generate revenue. The Chronicle currently has the worst of both worlds: an aggressive for-profit mentality (one that, in the m Danny Sullivan on Techmeme's Gabe Rivera Is More Editor Than Aggregator... Free the Gabe 1! The Techmeme 1? Seriously, if there are any TV editors getting passes, then Gabe should. Press isn't just defined by writing stories. Judy Shapiro on GOOG's Chief Economist Hal Varian Has No Solution For Newspapers Actually, there is good news for publishers ... And it involves creating engagement experiences with the content rather than trying to sell content directly. (see some examples in this AdAge article: http://micurl.com/xijmu) The key is create an experience that broadens the one:many experience of today's newspaper expereince with a socially connected "many:many" engagement experience. The success of the latest mobile apps provides inspi Judy Shapiro on Dirty Little Secrets: Social Media Is Terrible At Promoting Products It is "underground" now because the consultants are pretending Social Media is a big "secret" worth $22K/ day (see my post on this - Is Chris Brogan Worth $22K?http://micurl.com/wpFeo) As a client trying to buy social media services -- it is too hard today. There many little "bits" running around without a mature understanding of how to create value through a programmatic marketing approach. This maturity is hard to come by now because you need people who have depth in mark Ian Lamont on Techmeme's Gabe Rivera Is More Editor Than Aggregator... I think many PR/communications professionals are still getting their heads around the new media world order. What's surprising here is this happened at SXSW. Marshall Kirkpatrick on Techmeme's Gabe Rivera Is More Editor Than Aggregator... Good stuff Tom. Did you see this interview with did with Megan McCarthy of Techmeme btw? http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/techmemes_new_editor.php Tom Foremski on Dirty Little Secrets: Social Media Is Terrible At Promoting Products Judy, yes, it is a new mdoel but is it already broken? One of my contacts told me that there is a lot of social media marketing going on but that it is underground. I thugh that the point is for it to be seen, rather than be 'underground.' Tom Foremski on Why Ad Networks And Exchanges Will Never Help Publishers Ted: Yes, I agree, some big roll ups on the way. Every week I'm introduced to yet another successful ad network I've never heard of, with tons of people and VC money. They have the upper hand right now, but ad networks are not a sustainable business long term, imho. Ann Garrison on The Latest Pew Report Reveals Very Sophisiticated News Consumers I agree re the sophisticated news consumer. Note that this consumer is probably more likely to respond to the news in some way as well. Dave Kellogg on Why Ad Networks And Exchanges Will Never Help Publishers Tom, My biggest beef with the Poynter Online piece is the implication that auctions only work well for high priced goods which strikes as basically ridiculous. In addition, I concur that the notion of creating artificial scarcity will not work either. Fact of the matter is that there are too many *bad* advertising units out there that will get sold at rock-bottom prices. Competing in that space is like selling the colored rocks you put in the bottom of fish tanks. Judy Shapiro on Dirty Little Secrets: Social Media Is Terrible At Promoting Products Actually Tom I disagree. Social media does work at promoting products. What you miss is a mature marketing approach to social media. I personally could not find a social media agency - I did find lots of "social media consultants". And social media is not just part of something else -- it is new corporate branding model. What is missing is marketing maturity - but it's coming... Judy Shapiro Ted Rheingold on Why Ad Networks And Exchanges Will Never Help Publishers I 100% agree. As you say Tom, there's just not enough liquidity in the marketplace. The only way such a market place would work is if every advertiser from P&G to the corner deli and every publisher from NYTimes to corner blog are all on the same network and all watching prices like an experienced market floor trader. The market places I hear envisioned aren't anywhere close to that and I expect the current exuberance in the new style of ad marketplace to sputter out (But not before some over   Silicon Valley Watcher--reporting on the business and culture of disruption. © Tom Foremski 2004 - 2009 Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-noDerivs 2.5. Details of license.