hosting.mobi Domain Sells for $101,000

dotMobi, the company behind the .mobi Internet domain, successfully closed its first-ever online auction on 3 October. dotMobi auctioned 100 domain names through Sedo.com (Search Engine for Domain Offers), the online marketplace for buying and selling domain names and websites. dotMobi says it is the first domain company to offer selected names directly to the market via an online auction process rather than a traditional ‘first come, first served’ process.
Dozens of names were purchased, and more than $850,000 (£425,000) generated for the continued creation of mobile content tools like dotMobi's http://ready.mobi and http://site.mobi tools.
With bidders from 34 countries, the auction's most desired names were hosting.mobi (which sold for $101,000), bank.mobi ($51,501), download.mobi ($51,500), currency.mobi ($47,000) and insurance.mobi ($42,005).
insurance.mobi was purchased by Insurance.com, an independent, online insurance agency which enables consumers to compare and buy competitive auto insurance quotes directly from more than a dozen leading insurance companies.
“We see the long-term value of the mobile Internet,” says Insurance.com Director of Information Technology, Joe Singleton. “The .mobi domain will be a valuable tool in continuing to build our future consumer offerings.”
Commenting on the auction, dotMobi Chief Marketing Officer David Ryder says:
“With more than 1.6 billion mobile users around the world, it's obvious that brands are quickly realising that the audience for mobile content is enormous. This auction proves that dotMobi has some of the most-wanted domain names in the world, and it’s exciting to start seeing how they'll be used for content."
The next .mobi Sedo auction takes place on 31 October. Domains up for grabs include flights.mobi, hoteldeals.mobi and cars.mobi. You can see the complete list of names going under the digital hammer, along with terms, condition and buyer requirements, here.