Domain Registrations From Google
Attention both people who haven’t already registered a domain name: Google is here to help. The search giant announced today it will be entering the realm of domain registrations. Annual registrations will be $10 and are available for domains ending in four suffixes, .com, .net, .biz and .info.
For those that may have overlooked it, Google became an accredited registrar of domain names almost two years ago, but this is the first time they’ve done anything with that approval. Rival services from Yahoo, along with hosting plans, have existed for years.
However, Google’s new registration service sees the company partnering with GoDaddy and eNom, and frankly, the announcement is a little unclear on whether or not Google is handling the registration or whether it’s really just doing a de-branded resale of GoDaddy and eNom’s services.
The domain registration service has been rolled into the Google Apps for Your Domain offering. Google’s service offers private listing, a DNS and domain management control panel and comes automatically configured to work with other Google services. You also get free email, calendar and IM services courtesy of Google Apps for Your Domain.
Google clearly wants to be the one-stop shop for small businesses looking to get started with the web and the auto-integration with other services certainly makes Google’s new registration services tempting.
So far Google doesn’t have a bulk registration discount or pay-in-advance discount, but the $10 price tag is on par for the field and certainly better than old skool registrar, Network Solutions, who still charges $34.99 a year. Ouch.
