Google is now a registrar...

[jehnidiah]

So, Google is now an official ICANN-approved registrar. Read about it:

http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2005/01/31/google_is_now_a_domain_registrar.html

and

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/31/2316212&tid=217&tid=95

What do you guys think of this? I imagine they'll have quite good prices..

 

[dgridley]

Awwwwwww... I was just coming to post this!! hehe... I think eventually we'll see Google having a hand in just about everything.. they are making some astute business moves.

So, Google is now an official ICANN-approved registrar. Read about it:

http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2005/01/31/google_is_now_a_domain_registrar.html

and

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/31/2316212&tid=217&tid=95

What do you guys think of this? I imagine they'll have quite good prices..

 

[Midano]

I can't wait for Google's parking program - it would be just a logical step.

 

[jehnidiah]

Hehe, sorry for beatin' ya barely at the thread.

I'm just seriously hoping for awesome prices, and for them to consider it a way to "lure" members in. Because they'll lure members to their other services with the cheap prices, but they'll only be luring my domain business. I also wonder how good their customer service will/would be..? Afaik, they don't have any customer service lines as of now, so it'll be interesting in the near future, I think.

 

[jeter4982]

Hey!

This looks like a great move for us domaineers. I see dramatic price decreases for a domain reg. in the future, with Google's entrance to the market. Knowing Google, they will become the leader in domain registration, like they have in everything else. This is great news!

 

[Wanda]

interesting news all~be~it

however, proceed "with caution"..
concerning any "giant" who want's
their hand in "everything"..

Domain name registrars.. may find themselves
well below the GoogleMart, when it comes to
searching for a "domain registration" on Google
in the future.

Google is looking more like WallyWorld everyday..
(maybe Google is owned by Sam Waltman?? or
maybe he's one of the top share holders) ??

worth pondering, at least.. on a rainy day.

 

[1rrr1]

very interesting news....let's see it when it comes out!

 

[enetwork]

I can't wait for Google's parking program - it would be just a logical step.

Actually, Google already has a parking program in place but you do have to meet a minimum requirement of traffic that you need to send before they will accept you.

Most of the paid parking programs like DomainSponsor, Sedo, Fab etc... already use their backend for this.

In the end you really don't lose out using these programs as they can negotiate a better deal than you could because of the amount of traffic they are able to send them.

 

[equity78]

Godaddy must not be pleased, and you have to wonder will they shake up the PPC world? Enet makes a good point but what if Google says we can phase them out we will get thousands of domainers to sign up with us direct control everything ourselves. Interesting, When does MSFT become a Registrar and start a PPC program?

 

[jehnidiah]

Domain name registrars.. may find themselves
well below the GoogleMart, when it comes to
searching for a "domain registration" on Google
in the future.

Google is looking more like WallyWorld everyday..
(maybe Google is owned by Sam Waltman?? or
maybe he's one of the top share holders) ??

worth pondering, at least.. on a rainy day.

I'd disagree with that, simply because if they sold them for cheap, that wouldn't be their prime way of making money; their big way right now is still, and will remain I believe, on their ads that they display on their search engine.

If they were to compromise the searches and start displaying themselves first merely because they also owned that site, their would be great public uproar and people would simply cease to use Google anymore.

I am absolutely sure it won't resort to that.

 

[LeeRyder]

I like google, alot. But this makes me very nervous.

Anyone able to chime in (legitimately) as to whether or not US Anti Monopoly laws apply to cyber space? I am very very doubtful...

this is almost frightening as to how many pots Google is putting their hands into. What's even scarrier is, the owners are soooo young. They have alot of time here to control the ..literal..future of humanity.

Yahoo, Ebay, GoDaddy, Microsoft...your officially on notice. Get it in gear now.

Without fair competition, the www will become limited.

the problem i see...as to how this has happened/is happening, is the lack of faith people have in the security of the web. When a name gains trust...it grows very quickly and word spreads. Hence the problem I personally have with hackers/exploiters f*cking this up for ...all of us.

right now, what we have, and know where google is aiming are:

Search
Advertising
Email
Domain names
Ranking
Ad Publishing

and remember, they are just a few short years old. and they just went public. Whats to happen when a Board decides? we all know how fast to grab ideas and marketshare when corporate America is involved...

 

[IAmAllanShore]

Personally, I'd like to see them get in the game.
When Google enters, one of two things happens:
1) Everyone else improves to compete; or
2) Google takes over and does no evil
Yeah, it's utopiatic, but let's hope it works out as the former.
-Allan

 

[se]

love it...more competition for godaddy especially....
no wonder they spend $$ for a superbowl ad...

i hear on another forum that google also plans to step into web hosting business

 

[enetwork]

Godaddy must not be pleased, and you have to wonder will they shake up the PPC world? Enet makes a good point but what if Google says we can phase them out we will get thousands of domainers to sign up with us direct control everything ourselves. Interesting, When does MSFT become a Registrar and start a PPC program?

Well from what I've gathered from the conversations I've had with them, they are not interested in dealing with smaller traffic holders themselves as their is a lot of fraud control and policing they would have to do. Dealing with the larger traffic aggregators allows them a trustful source of traffic without having to worry about the little guy that will possibly see some revenue opportunities by having his friends click on the links for them(just one example). Now imagine this on a much larger scale which is what opening the doors to everyone would bring. Not good for their advertisers.

Even companies like Domain Sponsor have a minimum requirement you have to meet(although not anywhere near the level of what google asks) and they approve you on a case by case basis.

 

[ZuraX]

Dont forget the Google Groups and broadband phone service...

Also hold off on using them as a register until we see how they handle spammers. Right now they refuse to remove the spammers that use Google Groups. If they are not like GoDaddy and term a spammers domain then they are worthless.

 

[enetwork]

love it...more competition for godaddy especially....
no wonder they spend $$ for a superbowl ad...

i hear on another forum that google also plans to step into web hosting business

I'm not too sure they are going to be focusing on companies like Godaddy. I think, like that article implies, that they will be following the loss leader strategy that Yahoo and others have implemented to supplement their hosting. If that is in fact the case, expect a bare bones control panel for your domain as the entire purpose of that strategy is to get you to the site and hopefully get you to sign up for hosting. Having an extensive control panel and free features will only serve to cause them to lose more money than necessary as it will encourage people to buy in bulk, which is not a good thing(if this is in fact their model).

All the free features like URL and email forwarding also discourage people from purchasing webhosting.

This, of course, is just my opinion.

 

[equity78]

Good points enet. IMO

 

[MissFlora]

Personally I think online business is just like retail merchandise. When a company focus on one item specifically, they will have more time, more manpower, more $$ to make it the best out of the best. That will make the item unbelievably good, which is what a consumer should have for paying that sum of $$. As what is happening with Google IMO, I doubt they will be able to put in as much focus into the domain/hosting business like other companies such as Godaddy, Enom, Namecheap etc. I personally will prefer to stay with registrar that can or will have the most potential of giving me the best service, best quality.

Flora.

 

[EricH]

...Ebay...your officially on notice. Get it in gear now.

I would think this would definitely be in Google's near future. I'm surprised they haven't gotten into auctions yet. Just think "Ad Word Auctions - Auctions on web sites around the world"

 

[EbookLover]

I would actually be very surprised if google enters the discount domain game. I would think that they would take a more profitable approach seeing how they already have the Google brand (which is has a "high-end" perceived value).

Besides, it's not like $5-7 domain prices are not exactly what I call "high-prices". Google will not be your discount domain saviour, they have too much dignity, I think, to play that game. And if they do, they will have restrictions just like Yahoo (IMO, not being able to transfer a domain to a reg of my choice diminishes the value of an already technically worthless domain. It's almost like you are renting, not owning) or they will have to get into other services to make upsells that compensate for the loss taken on the sale of a $4.00 domain bought for $6 wholesale and where the cost of aquisition of a new customer is ASTRONOMICAL.

Did you ever see PPC prices for these types of keywords pertianing to the domain and hosting bsuinesses? Unbelieveable. TO be in the domain bussiness, you can't just sell cheap domains and expect to be in business next moneth. Domains reg alone is a sure loser.

In my ecperience, a realistic CTR for a PPC campaign is around 2% for the average advertiser with the average ad and an average product. Then the conversion rate is is yet another 2% (if you're average, if you are below average, you are screwed even more). Meaning, out of 100 impressions, you get 2 clicks (let's say they are $5.00 per click which is lower than most are paying for #1 postitions). THen out of those 2, no conversion at all - actually it is 0.04 customers converted. You just spent $10.00 and no sale. at these percentages, one would need to have 2500 impressions to get one sale (conversion/aquisition). It took $250.00 to get one sale and that sale will most likely be to a domaineer who has no intention of buying any other service. Just a doamin.

These are all conservative figures but you can begin to see just how hard and competitive the market is. It's all about backend sales and upsells and customer retention, not domain registrations.

Anyway, this is very much in line with this thread, I think (not to hijack or anything)...

http://namepros.com/showthread.php?t=67790