Google going to sell domains

[chenzen]

http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/23/google-gets-into-domain-sales/?utm_campaign=fb&ncid=fb

Currently invitation only.
They are looking to provide

• Free private registration
• Free email forwarding to your personal Gmail inbox
• Free domain forwarding
• Support for up to 100 sub-domains
• Plans to support all the new gtlds in the next few years
  
• Full phone support

Hope they turn out to be better than the other registrars.

 

[enlytend]

Free spying on what you do with that domain.

No thanks.

 

[FPForum]

I wonder what kind of pricing they are going to offer....There aren't very many companies out there who could give someone like GoDaddy a run for their money - but Google can.

I'm sure Bob Parsons, Blake Irving, and the other big wigs at GoDaddy weren't happy to hear this..

Aside from that, I don't plan on buying domains through Google!

 

[Nattydomain]

I heard $12 for domains BUT one thing they have on their side is trust. End users should not have any issues feeling safe if the domain is with Google....will see how it plays out

 

[Name Trader]

With $12 pricing, your free private registration isn't exactly free. Trust Google? I trust them about as far as I can throw GoDaddy Are they a good company, yes. Do they provide great services for domainers/websites, yes. Will they use your Google Domains info for their other services, yes. Will that affect your business, maybe.

 

[TotalWebsites]

I'm surprised google doesn't just create their own extension then tweak their algorithm to rank their extension greater than any others.

 

[iowadawg]

Go google!
They found another way to add to their database more users and information.
And probably at some point in time, a domain through google will outrank other domains.

 

[Name Trader]

Go google!
They found another way to add to their database more users and information.
And probably at some point in time, a domain through google will outrank other domains.

only on Google SERPS

 

[enlytend]

Initially, they're targeting SMB's, no doubt with the goal of upselling additional services (hosting, etc)
Good post from Mike Blumenthal (well known in local search circles)
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/06/23/google-enters-domain-reselling-for-smbs/

And it sounds like they're using a godaddy back end (???!!!)
They won't rank Google reg'd domains first, but if you're doing anything they might frown upon I'd steer clear.

 

[Dave_Z]

I'm surprised google doesn't just create their own extension then tweak their algorithm to rank their extension greater than any others.

Google's doing that might create anti-competition/anti-trust issues for themselves.

I'm curious how Google will handle the inherent issues of a domain registrar serving end users. Spam complaints, phishing reports, trademark claims, the works.

Then again, their domain registration thing is invite-only for now.

 

[DU]

I'm curious how Google will handle the inherent issues of a domain registrar serving end users. Spam complaints, phishing reports, trademark claims, the works.

Same way they do now.... shrug and hope Mark Zuckerburg makes a privacy change at Facebook.

 

[AEProgram]

wouldnt surprise me they end up buying a big registrar like web.com and their network sol, enom or godaddy etc

 

[DnEbook]

This is only to add to their 100 or so extensions they have applied for and in some cases already secured, .youtube .google .tube …..etc
~
I may have read somewhere they were giving away one idn extension for free for the first year

 

[SearchEngineZ]

It makes sense. Google has been a registrar for many years, and has also been selling domains as part of Google Apps packages.

$12 price spotted here:
http://domains.google.com/about/features.html

Also:
Google has partnered with web development companies Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly and Wix to provide an optional website hosting service for an additional fee.

Read more: http://www.itnews.com.au/News/388783,google-tests-domain-registration-service.aspx#ixzz35Xi7kIuE

One of my golden rules is don't use the same company for registration and hosting.

I don't know if I would think similarly for Google. They already know which domains I own (via WHOIS). I already use them for some domain > email services.

What could be the downside? Perhaps the idea that most registrars are so crap that Google could end up being the one and only registrar...

 

[RU]

I need an invite...

 

[johname]

Made Web,com's stock tank this morning:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/12754706/1/why-webcom-group-wwww-stock-is-plummeting-today.html

 

[JB Lions]

This might end up not being a big deal at all, few things come to mind.

They bought an affiliate network Performics, changed the name to Google Affiliate Network, they ended up shutting it down. Some merchants got the news from their affiliates. Wasn't handled well at all.

Didn't Google Checkout shut down last year?

Remember Froogle? It was supposed to kill all the price comparison sites. Never really took off, changed the name to Google Products.

Did Facebook die with Google+? No.

And $12 is more than the $8 something I'm paying.

And you would be pretty crazy handing over any more of your business (insights to your business) to Google.

 

[buyselldoms]

This might end up not being a big deal at all, few things come to mind.

They bought an affiliate network Performics, changed the name to Google Affiliate Network, they ended up shutting it down. Some merchants got the news from their affiliates. Wasn't handled well at all.

Didn't Google Checkout shut down last year?

Remember Froogle? It was supposed to kill all the price comparison sites. Never really took off, changed the name to Google Products.

Did Facebook die with Google+? No.

And $12 is more than the $8 something I'm paying.

And you would be pretty crazy handing over any more of your business (insights to your business) to Google.

+1 this. (no pun intended)

I am glad I am not the only one to remember froogle before the rename!

I think you are being too kind to Google & Co... remember Google Video? Despite being the popular search engine to save face they had to buy YouTube as they couldn't compete with that website!

Even Google Search isn't as good anymore... lets be honest. However, Google is here to stay.

 

[N-A]

Even Google Search isn't as good anymore... lets be honest. However, Google is here to stay.

Google Search is good when you rank high.

 

[buyselldoms]

Google Search is good when you rank high.

haha, not talking about from a site owner perspective but the end user.

Google used to get decent results and the stemming used to be a decent feature.

Now, its dumb down to encourage ad clicks (we can argue that they need to make money, beyond the scope of the discussion) and stemming is awful as its tricky to turn off - as soon as they switched between solely word stemming shop->shopped,shopping etc. to including related words such as store,market,supermarket etc when you cant turn it off its messed it up... you can quote phrases but other than that the old fashioned all other words are okay but +keep that word the same technique doesn't seem to work anymore. Perhaps there is an option in preferences to disable, who knows or who cares... too long winded for a quick web search :D

 

[Dreads]

Ah, I need a domain register that the general public trusts and understands. Its hard to get my clients to trust namecheap, godaddy ect.. when it comes to entering personal information for a domain. So I can expect this to make my life a bit easier

Side note, first post in a couple years LOLOL

 

[enlytend]

+1 this. (no pun intended)

I am glad I am not the only one to remember froogle before the rename!

I go back to those days too. And more importantly, when the Froogle "replacement", Google Product Search, was free. Now they're all Adwords PLA's (but the average person hasn't got a clue)

Now, its dumb down to encourage ad clicks (we can argue that they need to make money, beyond the scope of the discussion) and stemming is awful as its tricky to turn off - as soon as they switched between solely word stemming shop->shopped,shopping etc. to including related words such as store,market,supermarket etc when you cant turn it off its messed it up... you can quote phrases but other than that the old fashioned all other words are okay but +keep that word the same technique doesn't seem to work anymore. Perhaps there is an option in preferences to disable, who knows or who cares... too long winded for a quick web search :D

They removed the + search operator in 2011 or 2012, they removed the ~ (synonyms) last year. Hummingbird - trying for make it more conversational and interpretive, rather than keyword-driven.

 

[buyselldoms]

I completely agree enlytend, the other day I was searching for right angled hdmi cables - Google was happy to stem completely unrelated cables such as dvi, vga etc. similar but not the same lol

Okay to be fair, I just click on a retailer link from Google then search their website, but its not the point... as its easier to just go straight on amazon than bother with Google.

Yeah the operator had disappeared for a while so not anything new; but Google should do what it wants for basic users and allow advanced-level users to use operators and such to better their search results. Well, to be fair, most of the world allows cookies and don't clear them, so Google probably appears more relevant when taking into account past searches... and that's when you aren't logged in too.

 

[Viqta]

I am unsure right now whether to be happy about Google coming in to sell domains. Let me just remain indifferent for now.

 

[Dimitris]

Internet is public. Nowdays to use it in the first place you must agree that none of your information is 100% secure and private and if intelligence agencies want to target you, they can do it fast with a simple invoiced request. They can get any information about you from any registrar in the world, whether you use whois protection or not.

If you have nothing to hide with your domains and your private/published content, then Google domains should be your first choice because they are known for their security and they remediate all issues very fast. Their two-factor authentication works perfectly. Their page load times are also very fast and their user interfaces are super simple and relaxing to the eyes.

In the last 14 years, 95% of the vulnerabilities affecting Google's online properties resulted from bugs in their client-side code and usually affected Google users who are not vigilant on how to use and protect their information online, e.g. bug exploitable from client-side, some requiring unwitting user interaction and some other not; and users falling victims of phising attacks. Also, there were many cases of registar online support staff who have fallen victims of phishing attacks.


The only other registrar staff I personally know that never "replied" to phishing attacks, is the staff of Network Solutions; at least before it was acquired by Web.com and their staff maybe mixed.


PS: I have no Google stocks :P, I was not paid by Google to post this, this is my personal opinion based on many years of infosec experience and tracking data loss incidents, remote attacks and vulnerability advisories.