Google easing into domain business afterall

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.