Trampled in the Land Rush -- .Mobi, Ho!

This morning at 10:00 am general registration began for dot-mobi domain names. It's been called a "land rush" and boy, did I get run over.

If you're going to have a presence on the Internet, you've got to have a domain name. I have several. My primary company name is LandmarkComputer.com, though I also have Landmark.org and about a dozen other domain names, including TheViewfromLandmark.com and BudStolker.com.

Dot-mobi is the newest type of domain name, dedicated to delivering the Internet to mobile devices. Dot-mobi Web sites are formatted for viewing on mobile devices: short menus, simple graphics, little or no typing required. It almost goes without saying that a dot-mobi domain name should be short.

Dot-mobi's potential is huge. If every mobile device user winds up surfing for dot-mobi versions of Web sites, owning a mobile-branded domain could be an important part of a company's strategy.

Sure, everybody wants a dot-com domain name; it's the recognized standard. Dot-name, dot-biz, and dot-us are still struggling (as indicated by discount pricing on registration of those domains) because they haven't been promoted well.

But dot-mobi is different. Even its launch was different; clearly the powers that be have gotten smarter about how to start up a Top Level Domain extension. First there was a two-week "Sunrise" period in September. To register a dot-mobi domain name linked to an existing trademark (such as Bud.mobi) cost $220-280 for 2 years, depending on the registrar -- a bit steep, but if you had a trademarked name to register, probably worth it.

After Sunrise closed, there was a four-day hiatus, then the two-week "Landrush" period started. During that time anyone could register any available dot-mobi domain name at a premium (though less than the Sunrise fee -- $60-80 for 2 years). After the Landrush closed, then the price went down -- to as little as $30 for two years.

I waited until after the Landrush to see if Landmark.mobi was still available. This morning at 10:00 am I was online, waiting to grab it at the earliest possible moment. It was available! By 10:02 I was already checking out at the GoDaddy domain store, but by the time I punched my credit card number in, Landmark.mobi was gone!

In a (slight) panic, I tried Lad.mobi (for Landmark Lad, my company's "face"). Gone! Bud.mobi: gone! (Not a surprise -- preregistered by Annheuser-Busch, who presumably could afford the preregistration fees.) I tried Oric.mobi -- based on a favorite name -- but at checkout I kept getting a shopping cart error.

Then at 10:15, GoDaddy pulled the dot-mobi registration page -- probably too much traffic for their system to handle.

By 10:30 the GoDaddy store was back up and running and I settled on LComp.mobi -- short for Landmark Computer. Cost for two years: thirty bucks.

I could have gone for LandmarkComputer.mobi -- but try punching that in on your cell phone! (I'll bet dot-mobi gets abbreviated to dot-m on cell phones. And with predictive cell-phone spelling, LandmarkComputer.mobi could wind up being spelled LC.M.)

So I've got my dot-mobi domain name -- hahahahahaha -- I've got it! It's mine, do you understand, all mine!!

Okay, Bud take a deep breath. There, that's better.

It's not too late to get your own domain name, whether it's a dot-com, dot-mobi, or any of the other popular top-level domain names. You can search for and purchase it at DomainsbyLandmark.com, my subsidiary company (though we're not yet selling dot-mobi domain names). I discuss how to choose a domain name at my not-yet-open-for-business Web site that's all about getting started with your own Web site. Here's a preview of the site.