.mobi

Overview

• .mobi is a top-level domain (TLD) whose name is short for "mobile."
• Intended for websites and services optimized for access by mobile devices (smartphones and other mobile phones).
• Registrations are conducted at the second level.

History

• Approved by ICANN on 11 July 2005.
• Domain names under .mobi became available for public registration on 26 September 2006.
• The registry was originally operated by mTLD (publicly known as dotMobi), financially backed at launch by a group of major mobile and tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Ericsson, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Telefónica Móviles, Telecom Italia Mobile, Orascom, the GSM Association, Hutchison Whampoa, Syniverse and Visa.
• In February 2010 Afilias acquired mTLD Top-Level Domain Ltd. (dotMobi), making dotMobi a subsidiary of Afilias.
• In March 2017 .mobi transitioned to an unsponsored generic top-level domain and began using the same contract terms offered to new gTLDs.

Usage and Audience

• Aimed at mobile content providers and websites that want to signal mobile-optimized experiences.
• Common users include mobile product and service sites, mobile apps landing pages, and developers focused on mobile web experiences.
• The TLD has been used both for mobile-specific sites and more generally for businesses and services promoting mobile access.

Registration Rules

• No formal registration restrictions are specified; .mobi registrations are publicly available.
• The registry has recommended adherence to mobile-first design and dotMobi best-practice guidelines, but it does not mandate a specific technology.
• Registrations occur at the second level.
• DNSSEC is supported.
• Dispute resolution follows the UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy).

SEO and Brand Impact

• The .mobi brand originally promoted the idea of device-specific mobile content; this prompted criticism (notably from the W3C and Tim Berners-Lee) about fragmenting the web and creating redundant content.
• Advances in responsive web design and device-adaptive techniques have reduced the need for device-specific TLDs; as a result, .mobi is often repositioned for mobile services, apps, and sites that emphasize mobile readiness.
• dotMobi promoted mobile best practices and provided tools (see below) to help sites meet those guidelines, which supported the domain's positioning as a mobile-focused namespace.

Notable Cases or Examples

• dotMobi launched tools and resources to support mobile readiness:
  • ready.mobi (a free testing tool that produced a ".mobi Ready" score)
  • mobiForge (formerly dev.mobi), a developer and design resource and community site for mobile web developers.
• Advisory bodies: as a sponsored initiative originally, .mobi had a Policy Advisory Board (PAB) and a .mobi Advisory Group (MAG) representing sponsoring-community interests; these included representatives of the original founding companies.
• Security note: by 2024 the authoritative WHOIS server for .mobi had been allowed to expire, a situation reported to create vulnerabilities such as enabling creation of fraudulent digital certificates.

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       MOBI

organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      c/o Identity Digital Inc.
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         Vice President, Engineering
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      c/o Identity Digital Inc.
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldadmin@identity.digital

contact:      technical
name:         Senior Director, DNS Infrastructure Group
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      c/o Identity Digital Inc.
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldtech@identity.digital

nserver:      A0.MOBI.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.254.55.1 2001:500:21:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      A2.MOBI.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.249.118.1 2001:500:46:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      B0.MOBI.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.254.56.1 2001:500:22:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      B2.MOBI.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.249.126.1 2001:500:4e:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      C0.MOBI.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.254.57.1 2001:500:23:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      D0.MOBI.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.254.58.1 2001:500:24:0:0:0:0:1
ds-rdata:     56191 8 2 016c0d8022bef2cabb827ce75dabd8fd24cd0160ac277a95ecd5e79b1a95592c

whois:        

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://www.identity.digital/

created:      2005-10-17
changed:      2025-09-04
source:       IANA