Since September 26, 2006 when .mobi sites were first available for public domain registration, several dot mobi domain extension sites have made headlines for trading for over six figures, an honor reserved for only the most premium domain names with a .com or .net extension.

But before any dot mobi domains were available for registration, mTLD, the governing body over the dot mobi domain extensions, set aside almost 6,000 common usage words that it would eventually release at auction or RFP to assure a fair and equitable way of handing out these premium domain names under the .mobi extension and also to try and require quick development turnaround to aid in the global effort of improving the .mobi extension overall.

The first geographic .mobi domain to be released was Helsinki.mobi.

Dot mobi has a list of reserved names which has domain names required to be reserved by ICANN such as emergency numbers, dot mobi terms, and city locations. This list is separate from their premium list. Mobi.mobi is one of the reserved names.

Several .mobi domains have already sold for over six figures whether by auction or by the rfp process outlined by mTLD. A short list of those site include flowers.mobi, sportsbook.mobi, and fun.mobi.

In September 2007, mTLD released 100 domains with the dot mobi domain extension. This release was to commemorate the one-year anniversary of their public launch.

The quarterly releases in auction and RFP have not been without dispute and controversy. Several .mobi auctions at SEDO have been voided for policy violations, and reportedly the top-25 dot mobi domains sold had all missed the deadlines set forth by mTLD and ICANN for active website development.