In a surprising announcement, Google Domains is set to shut down, with its assets being sold and migrated to Squarespace.
Squarespace has entered into a definitive agreement with Google to acquire the assets associated with the Google Domains business. This includes approximately 10 million domains hosted on Google Domains, serving millions of customers.
Google’s decision to sell the registrar business is part of their efforts to sharpen their focus. Google Domains, which launched in 2014, has been known for promoting HTTPS and offering a wide range of top-level domains (TLDs). The service officially exited beta in 2022.
This move reflects Google’s aim to optimize resource allocation and provides a guided migration path for users instead of abruptly shutting down the service.
As a domain name registrar, Google Domains provided features like free WHOIS privacy and one-click DNSSEC for protection against DNS spoofing and cache poison attacks. It also utilized Google’s reliable cloud infrastructure and boasted a user-friendly interface. The user experience under Squarespace’s ownership remains to be seen.
Squarespace has committed to honoring existing Google Domains customers’ renewal prices for at least 12 months after the transaction’s closing, which is expected to take place in the third quarter of 2023. Consequently, there will be no immediate impact on Google Domains accounts, and users do not need to take any action at this time. Once the necessary regulatory approvals are obtained and the transaction is finalized, customers will transition to Squarespace, who will assume ownership and management of their domains after a transition period.
Google has released a support document today, promising to provide further information in the near future.