Prior to the launch of the .mobi domain in September 2006, dotMobi set aside approximately 5,500 "premium names" for distribution. These premium names are commonly used, generic words and phrases and are allocated via auctions and Request for Proposals (RFP) processes.

dotMobi is the first Internet domain Registry to allocate selected domains in this manner and the reason for doing this is to help ensure that content providers and brands have access to desired names. The full list of these premium names and further information is available here.

The last on-line auction was held 5-12 November 2008 in partnership with Sedo. 200 premium names were made available during this seven-day auction and the list can be viewed here.

As with other dotMobi auctions, companies and individuals were able to bid on the premium names offered by dotMobi and Sedo during this auction. The auction rules followed Sedo's standard Terms and Conditions. In addition and as is now standard, dotMobi had further, minimal, requirements for the buyer:

- Domain to be registered by auction winner within 10 days of receiving authorization code
- Site to initially consist of a dotMobi-compliant parking page
- Best efforts to create, launch and operate a live web site with relevant content within nine months. (For example, acupuncture.mobi should not display a site for car sales.)
- Fully compliant site with an http://ready.mobi score of at least 4/5.

Failure to adhere to these conditions may result in forfeiture of the winning bid and name.

By participating in the online auction, bidders agreed to the dotMobi Auction End-User Agreement as attached below.