5 ms·

Google Deprecates Google Domains, Sells It to Squarespace

40 points by therein 3y ago

fred256 3y ago
Didn't this happen a few weeks ago already?
- judge2020 3y ago
  The discussion, yes https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36346454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36346454
  - dang 3y ago
    Thanks! Macroexpanded: Google Domains to Shut Down - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36437962 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36437962 - June 2023 (12 comments) Google is selling all my personal information in Google Domains to Squarespace? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36423465 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36423465 - June 2023 (124 comments) Google Cloud Domains is to be fully deprecated as part of Google Domains sale - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36369701 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36369701 - June 2023 (45 comments) Ask HN: Where are you moving your Google domains to? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36364519 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36364519 - June 2023 (16 comments) Ask HN: Why would Google sell Google domains to Squarespace? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36352347 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36352347 - June 2023 (72 comments) Alphabet selling Google Domains assets to Squarespace - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36346454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36346454 - June 2023 (606 comments)
scull7 3y ago
Well, since they’re making me think about it… What registrars does the hacker news community recommend?
- readyplayernull 3y ago
  Anyone that isn't Godaddy.
  - gerdesj 3y ago
    Why? We use quite a few registrars and GD is far from the worst, in my opinion.
- Tesl 3y ago
  I think Namecheap is the goto recommendation on hacker news.
  - pkulak 3y ago
    Just checked my account, and I'm 10 days away from my 20-year anniversary. Holy smokes.
  - nicbou 3y ago
    I have been with them since forever. I see no particular reason to switch, although I find their UI rather clunky.
    - canadiantim 3y ago
      I’m about to switch away from namecheap, been meaning to ever since they cut off a subset of their customers without much warning or recourse. Haven’t gotten around to it yet but I’ve since lost trust and wonder whether that couldn’t happen to me next if I continue using namecheap. So just be careful if your views don’t align with theirs.
- kevmarsden 3y ago
  I transferred all my domains to Porkbun. Their renewal prices are low and so far, I don't have any complaints.
  - rycomb 3y ago
dmart 3y ago
Sounds like it applies to Cloud Domains as well (with the existing UI being preserved but essentially becoming a frontend to Squarespace). Subcontracting one of your core cloud services to a visual website building company, lol. You’d have to be crazy to trust GCP over AWS for any serious project after this.
- GauntletWizard 3y ago
  I read it the opposite direction - That Cloud Domains will continue to exist and for the migration period that the Google Domains product will remain a frontend to said product. Nevertheless, the confusion around it and poor messaging, particularly the timing of this message coming over a month after the deal was first announced, is infuriating.
  - EduardoBautista 3y ago
    Yes, I believe you are correct. AWS uses Gandi in a similar way that Google Cloud will use Squarespace going forward.
- fbdab103 3y ago
  Right? It is so silly to cut yourself off at the knees from offering a complete ecosystem. If they really wanted to cut out the riff-raff, low-value customers, and only sell to industry, they could have just 10x the cost. Enough to make private parties go elsewhere, but corporate customers would not blink. If only to avoid filling out one more TPS report.
- cavisne 3y ago
  Bizarrely Azure does the exact same thing with Godaddy.
moshegramovsky 3y ago
Been very happy with Amazon. They also make it very easy to get an SSL certificate.
eska 3y ago
And another one https://killedbygoogle.com/ https://killedbygoogle.com/ Regular reminder that you’re asking for it.
- TheRealSteel 3y ago
  I warned people not to buy games on Stadia. I specifically told them this was going to happen. Nobody should trust Google for anything long term at this point, ever.
  - atleastoptimal 3y ago
    Google's willingness to abandon so many of its projects may be disappointing but to me it's a positive signal regarding their ability to avoid sunk-cost thinking, which is the #1 killer of mammoth companies.
    - nicbou 3y ago
      You could also read it as their incapability to iterate towards a successful product. They have become too big to try.
      - dikaio 3y ago
        Or there inability to keep an already successful product successful.
  - dannyphantom 3y ago
    I think it was either here or Reddit that left a comment predicting that Stadia would eventually be canned - my boyfriend wanted to play a game that was only being released on the platform so I ended up getting it for his birthday when it came with a Chromecast. Well - life got in the way so he never actually got to play the game much but Google did refund our Stadia/Chromecast purchase so we got a Chromecast out of it at least. I remember reading a comment from a dev of one of the Stadia exclusives here who was very upset to learn that their work moot after it was announced here; can't imagine how deflating that must have felt for them.
rhuru 3y ago
The big advantage of Google Domains was that I could automatically connect my domains to other google services like Cloud Run, Google Search Console, Analytics, Adsense etc. without all the complexity of adding TXT records or text files. I hope it continues to work with Squarscape. It is beyond me why Google domains could not be a part of Google Cloud. It makes so much sense.
rhuru 3y ago
This is not entirely a bad idea. It does not make sense for Google to be a domain registrar when there are like 100s of of other companies doing exact same thing. Finding a good partner and providing tight integration makes so much sense. What I hate about many domain registrars is that they have terrible UI, have shady marketing techniques and they operate on low margins which means they have to really push for scale. I hope Squarespace is a good partner for Google here.
mike503 3y ago
Was gonna be another Google Graveyard entry but they couldn't actually simply deprecate it so they sold it?
matthewfelgate 3y ago
I wish there was a Domain Name serve that charged more but was actually good.
- tracker1 3y ago
  What do you mean? TBH, I though Google's domain registrar service wss pretty great. Though now that they're selling, I'm moving to PorkBun, the UI/UX isn't quite as polished, but even Google's had some short comings. If you're referring to DNS, I'm mostly moving from Google's own to Digital Ocean for most of my domains that aren't using Cloudflare already. To make the domain migration smoother.

40 points by therein 3y ago

fred256 3y ago

Didn't this happen a few weeks ago already?

judge2020 3y ago
The discussion, yes https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36346454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36346454
- dang 3y ago
  Thanks! Macroexpanded: Google Domains to Shut Down - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36437962 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36437962 - June 2023 (12 comments) Google is selling all my personal information in Google Domains to Squarespace? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36423465 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36423465 - June 2023 (124 comments) Google Cloud Domains is to be fully deprecated as part of Google Domains sale - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36369701 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36369701 - June 2023 (45 comments) Ask HN: Where are you moving your Google domains to? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36364519 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36364519 - June 2023 (16 comments) Ask HN: Why would Google sell Google domains to Squarespace? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36352347 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36352347 - June 2023 (72 comments) Alphabet selling Google Domains assets to Squarespace - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36346454 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36346454 - June 2023 (606 comments)

scull7 3y ago

Well, since they’re making me think about it… What registrars does the hacker news community recommend?

readyplayernull 3y ago
Anyone that isn't Godaddy.
- gerdesj 3y ago
  Why? We use quite a few registrars and GD is far from the worst, in my opinion.
Tesl 3y ago
I think Namecheap is the goto recommendation on hacker news.
- pkulak 3y ago
  Just checked my account, and I'm 10 days away from my 20-year anniversary. Holy smokes.
- nicbou 3y ago
  I have been with them since forever. I see no particular reason to switch, although I find their UI rather clunky.
  - canadiantim 3y ago
    I’m about to switch away from namecheap, been meaning to ever since they cut off a subset of their customers without much warning or recourse. Haven’t gotten around to it yet but I’ve since lost trust and wonder whether that couldn’t happen to me next if I continue using namecheap. So just be careful if your views don’t align with theirs.
kevmarsden 3y ago
I transferred all my domains to Porkbun. Their renewal prices are low and so far, I don't have any complaints.
- rycomb 3y ago

dmart 3y ago

Sounds like it applies to Cloud Domains as well (with the existing UI being preserved but essentially becoming a frontend to Squarespace). Subcontracting one of your core cloud services to a visual website building company, lol. You’d have to be crazy to trust GCP over AWS for any serious project after this.

GauntletWizard 3y ago
I read it the opposite direction - That Cloud Domains will continue to exist and for the migration period that the Google Domains product will remain a frontend to said product. Nevertheless, the confusion around it and poor messaging, particularly the timing of this message coming over a month after the deal was first announced, is infuriating.
- EduardoBautista 3y ago
  Yes, I believe you are correct. AWS uses Gandi in a similar way that Google Cloud will use Squarespace going forward.
fbdab103 3y ago
Right? It is so silly to cut yourself off at the knees from offering a complete ecosystem. If they really wanted to cut out the riff-raff, low-value customers, and only sell to industry, they could have just 10x the cost. Enough to make private parties go elsewhere, but corporate customers would not blink. If only to avoid filling out one more TPS report.
cavisne 3y ago
Bizarrely Azure does the exact same thing with Godaddy.

moshegramovsky 3y ago

Been very happy with Amazon. They also make it very easy to get an SSL certificate.

eska 3y ago

And another one https://killedbygoogle.com/ https://killedbygoogle.com/ Regular reminder that you’re asking for it.

TheRealSteel 3y ago
I warned people not to buy games on Stadia. I specifically told them this was going to happen. Nobody should trust Google for anything long term at this point, ever.
- atleastoptimal 3y ago
  Google's willingness to abandon so many of its projects may be disappointing but to me it's a positive signal regarding their ability to avoid sunk-cost thinking, which is the #1 killer of mammoth companies.
  - nicbou 3y ago
    You could also read it as their incapability to iterate towards a successful product. They have become too big to try.
    - dikaio 3y ago
      Or there inability to keep an already successful product successful.
- dannyphantom 3y ago
  I think it was either here or Reddit that left a comment predicting that Stadia would eventually be canned - my boyfriend wanted to play a game that was only being released on the platform so I ended up getting it for his birthday when it came with a Chromecast. Well - life got in the way so he never actually got to play the game much but Google did refund our Stadia/Chromecast purchase so we got a Chromecast out of it at least. I remember reading a comment from a dev of one of the Stadia exclusives here who was very upset to learn that their work moot after it was announced here; can't imagine how deflating that must have felt for them.

rhuru 3y ago

The big advantage of Google Domains was that I could automatically connect my domains to other google services like Cloud Run, Google Search Console, Analytics, Adsense etc. without all the complexity of adding TXT records or text files. I hope it continues to work with Squarscape. It is beyond me why Google domains could not be a part of Google Cloud. It makes so much sense.

rhuru 3y ago

This is not entirely a bad idea. It does not make sense for Google to be a domain registrar when there are like 100s of of other companies doing exact same thing. Finding a good partner and providing tight integration makes so much sense. What I hate about many domain registrars is that they have terrible UI, have shady marketing techniques and they operate on low margins which means they have to really push for scale. I hope Squarespace is a good partner for Google here.

mike503 3y ago

Was gonna be another Google Graveyard entry but they couldn't actually simply deprecate it so they sold it?

matthewfelgate 3y ago

I wish there was a Domain Name serve that charged more but was actually good.

tracker1 3y ago
What do you mean? TBH, I though Google's domain registrar service wss pretty great. Though now that they're selling, I'm moving to PorkBun, the UI/UX isn't quite as polished, but even Google's had some short comings. If you're referring to DNS, I'm mostly moving from Google's own to Digital Ocean for most of my domains that aren't using Cloudflare already. To make the domain migration smoother.