Remember when I said Google can’t see behind privacy protected domain registrations because they don’t actually manage any domains? Well… Google just announced they’ve added domain registration to the Google Apps for Your Domain Beta. Adding a domain to your Google Apps account is only $10.00 a year to register AND host AND get private domain registration to protect you from Evil spammers.
So this begs the question…
Is Google finally using their registrar license to manage domains for the general public?
Nope. They’re partnering with GoDaddy and Enom to provide the registration services. I doubt it’s a coincidence that they chose to partner with the registrars that have the first and third largest shares, respectively, of the domain market. Via these partnerships, there are now at least 20 million domain records to which Google (presumably) has full, behind-the-privacy-screen access.
Abhilash previously suggested this type of situation might be possible, and honestly, I didn’t think any of the registrars would get into bed with Google like this because the risk of clients becoming upset and transfering out in droves wouldn’t be worth taking. Sort of makes me wonder what kind of financial incentive they received.
I guess we’ll just have to watch and see how this plays out.
Google has the kind of deep pockets that could easily have swung the deal, making it beneficial to the registrars.
Abhilash called it correctly. Many have speculated on this for quite some time now, but this latest deal kind of puts the final nail in the arguement.
Damn! Enom & GoDaddy?!? That’s how they get around the obstacle of not being able to see behind the private registrations unless the domains are actively registered “with” them.
I mentioned your work during my presentation on the “multiple site strategies” panel at SES. I don’t think it’s about financial incentive. Having the data and being able to create “webmaster profiles” allows them to know much more about one’s porfolio of domains. The real benefit there is the knowledge.
What can they do with that?
Well they can much more easily detect and flush out those networks that are inter-linking or cross-linking, even when those networks of domains are using all the tricks (multiple hosts/c-blocks, de-centralized & random interlinking, etc.). It allows them to get rid of “authority-website-wannabes” much more easily, improving their search results and striking a blow against Yahoo & MSN.
Nice work! (and yes, I DID call it! 😉
I’m positive it isn’t a financial move for Google. I was curious about what kind of offer Google had to make to GoDaddy and eNom to get them to sell their souls like that. It could very well have just been a “play nice with us or we’ll just crush you like the insignificant insect that you are” type of offer…. but I suspect there were some dollar signs involved 🙂
If Google were only interested in offering domain registration, they’d handle it themselves (it’s not like they don’t have the technology to do it).
Google
lusts forwants the years and years (and tens of millions of domains worth) of data to add to their “holistic evaluation” of webmasters/publishers.