Google Domains has registered its final area. Google introduced in July that the service was getting shut down and that it had struck a take care of Squarespace to dump the present buyer base. A part of that transition course of means winding down the present Google Domains performance. 9to5Google was the primary website to note which you can not purchase a site by way of the service whereas it waits for the Google Grim Reaper to reach.
Google Area’s homepage has a discover explaining that this all apparently went down just a few days in the past, saying, “On September 7, 2023 Squarespace acquired all area registrations and associated buyer accounts from Google Domains. Prospects and domains will likely be transitioned over the following few months.” You may nonetheless handle current domains on Google Domains, however that is it.
Google Domains has been round since 2015 and spent seven of these years in “beta.” The product exited beta standing in 2022, solely to be killed a few yr later. For some time, it was a fantastic service, with a clear, easy-to-use interface that stood in distinction to many area registrars, particularly within the early days.
The Domains shutdown is likely one of the extra stunning entries within the Google Graveyard currently. Free Google merchandise die on a regular basis, however this was a paid service, and it is onerous to think about promoting domains for $12 a yr wasn’t a worthwhile enterprise. As one of many world’s largest Web corporations, Google Domains additionally had an unimaginable quantity of synergy with the remainder of Google.
Domains felt like an enormous booster for Google Workspace, permitting prospects to register a site after which use that area for a customized enterprise electronic mail, all with a single firm. Blogger (will Blogger ever die?) lets folks make a web site; since you will want a site to place that on, why not purchase one by way of Google? Builders may construct some form of service on Google Cloud, they usually might get a site from the identical place. Google often spearheads a push for brand new TLDs, and Domains was an enormous a part of that, permitting Google to shortly begin promoting them. (A few of these new TLDs like .zip had been a horrible thought, whereas others like .weblog appear superb.)
None of that was sufficient to justify holding the service round, although. Google says it’s killing off Domains to “sharpen our focus.”
