Google Domains who is

Google Domains is a domain name registrar owned and operated by Google. Google rolled out the service starting in 2014. As of the time of publishing, Google Domains is still in beta.

As a Googlephile and SEO consultant, I pretty much had to register a domain with Google Domains the day they started back in 2014. Ive been a customer of them ever since.

Heres my experience so far (going on 7+ years) and my full Google Domains review with pros & cons

Before we look at the pros & cons of Google Domains, there are two items to mention.

Google Domains is strictly a domain registration service.

They allow you to claim, register, transfer & manage domain names plus allow your domain to resolve via their DNS servers.

Google does not offer complementary services such as web hosting in the traditional sense.

Google does have a simple website builder with Google Sites, but for most is too limited. They also have email and business services through Google Workplace (read my explainer on plans & pricing). Google Suite does require a custom domain name to get started.

Ill explore this point more later below, but its important to understand Googles purpose with Google Domains.

They want getting online simpler & less daunting for very small and/or less tech-savvy businesses that means getting these businesses a domain name.

And even further, it means making the process of getting a domain as simple & transparent as possible.

Its important to remember that a domain is not a website.

Its not email or any other service you can access on the Internet. A domain name is analogous to your home address in the offline world it helps people locate your property.

A domain name simply tells an Internet service where to go to get whatever it wants (website files, emails, images, video, data, etc).

If you are looking to set up a website, youll still need to get something to host your website in addition to purchasing from Google Domains. I have reviews of possible options and break them down to these types of services:

• Web hosting
• WordPress hosting
• Website builders
• eCommerce hosting

All that said lets look at the pros & cons of using Google Domains as your domain registrar.

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Pros of Google Domains

Interface / Backend

Google Domains promises to be simple and transparent. And youll notice it right off with their homepage and backend design.

Its so minimalist that its nearly blank.

It has Googles trademark design ethos (aka the nearly blank Google Search page). Google Domains focuses on doing one thing and one thing only domains.

Everything that you might need to do with your domain management is front and center. You can do a domain transfer, edit your DNS settings / DNS records, set up domain forwarding, edit an existing domain, or buy a new domain all on the main screen. Its simple to manage multiple domain options at once.

The design has no upsells, no cross-sells, and no visual clutter. Its honestly refreshing in contrast to the typical direct response offers from most domain & hosting companies.

Once you leave the site, you wont even see striking retargeting ads. On Facebook, youll see just classy reminder ads. No offers just a promise of simplicity and transparency.

When you need to point your domain to a host or website builder, its all there in a single place in your Google Domains account. There are literally just 3 options on the backend sidebar.

Google Domains interface is a refreshing pro in an industry where most small business owners have to put up with pop-ups, upsells, and confusing backends.

Integrations

Although Google Domains does not offer built-in complementary products, it does integrate very well with the most common web apps.

It syncs simply with Google Workplace (for email, storage, records, etc). And Google runs one of the best DNS servers (the system that tells a browser to go to a specific server to get files) on the Internet.

In fact, many webmasters will use Googles DNS in place of their domain registrars or hosting service, which is a plus because its integrated well with Google Domains.

They have excellent email forwarding settings in addition to the Google Workplace integration. If you are just trying to set up a custom email address, its all straightforward.

A menu of common website builders is integrated directly in the add website dropdown. It includes:

• Shopify
• Weebly
• Wix
• Blogger
• Squarespace

All this leads to the next pro of overall simplicity.

Simplicity

If you are setting up your own website with a web hosting provider, pointing your nameservers is directly in the domain menu. Its one click.

But its more than just one click on a clean interface even advanced functions are simple to find and operate.

If you want to leave Google Domains unlocking your domain is simple (something that other domain name registrars make quite difficult). Requesting a transfer authorization code is right in the domain settings. Updating addresses are simple.

Discovering your billing history is simple. Since Google Domains uses your Google Account, its easy to pay and maintain (it pulls from your email and Google Wallet information).

Simplicity is the one thing Google Domains promises and they live up to it.

Transparent Value Pricing

Google Domains maintains a single price for each top-level domain (TLD). .Coms are $12/year.

Their pricing across the board is not the cheapest long or short term. They are a couple of dollars more expensive per year than Namecheap. And they dont do short-term discounting like GoDaddy.

Google Domains does bundle WHOIS Privacy Protection with a domain purchase. WHOIS protection gives your domain privacy from spammers and scrapers.

So although Google Domains isnt the cheapest, they do offer a solid total value pricing and they are very transparent about what youre getting.

Selection of New TLDs & Domain Extensions

In 2014, ICANN, the internets governing body, allowed for a lot more top-level domains (TLDs). This introduced a wide new selection into the domain name market, which use to be limited to .com, .net, a few other generics plus country-designated TLDs.

Now more businesses are looking for unique TLDs and domain extension options like .kitchen or .academy among hundreds of others. The issue now is making sure your domain registrar has all the ones you want to register.

There is one catch Google Domains does not have every country designated TLDs. Its a US-only service and has only generic TLDs (plus the .us country TLD). If you want a .co.uk or .ie domain youll be out of luck.

Cons of Google Domains

Pricing

Like I mentioned in the pros section, Google Domains pricing focuses on simplicity and transparency. They include privacy in their pricing and are cheaper than most hosting companies that offer domain registration.

However, when Google Domains pricing goes up againstNamecheap or GoDaddy, they lose out. Namecheaps pricing is transparent and consistently cheaper over the long term.

Namecheap also will run specials for various new TLDs that Google offers straight to retail.

GoDaddy is actually more expensive year to year than Google Domains. However, they also deeply discount domains in the first year (see their current promo here).

If you are just trying to secure domains quickly & cheaply, then GoDaddy will be a better bet on price for the first year. Namecheap will still be the better long-term option.

Support

Google Domains interface & product is focused on eliminating any possible need for customer support. That said stuff happens. And when stuff happens, you need support.

Ive only had to use Google Domains support a few times, however, their support options are not best in the industry. They are plainly just fine. Their contact forms are buried and their phone support options are limited to US business hours. They do offer off-hours chat/emailand call-backs.

Support isnt necessarily a con but its not really a reason to choose Google Domains.

Complementary Products

Google Domains focus on only domains is a pro but its also a con.

And thats because there are several products that almost always go with a domain. If you want to make your site secure with SSL, youll need an SSL certificate associated with the domain.

You can buy it separately from a third party, but from my experience, managing it with your domain is simpler.

I like to separate my domains and hosting, but many owners prefer that their hosting and domains get bundled into one (even if its not ideal from a performance perspective).

Namecheap has competitive hosting; GoDaddy offers alright basic hosting with domains. And most hosting companies offer domain registration (or even free domains) with web hosting purchase (such as InMotion Hosting or Bluehost).

Those kinds of products simply arent available with Google Domains. So if you want that kind of convenience, then youre out of luck.

Selection of Country & Specific TLDs

Although Google Domains has a wide selection of generic domains, they do not support country-level or all high-dollar domains that other domain registrars do. As of 2020, they have around 297 TLDs available. For example, .fm is a common podcast domain

Google Promise / Beta Status

The last con of using Google Domains as your domain provider is Google itself. At the end of 2021, the product is still in beta or testing. Its been in Beta for almost 7 years.

And while Google says that its a long-term project and a natural fit with their other business products like Google Suite and Google App Engine Google also has a long history of shutting down well-known Google services including growing and well-publicized ones.

They killed Google Reader, iGoogle, Google Apps for Teams, and Google Glass. Google has gone through countless changes with their local business product (aka Google Places, Google+ Local, Google MyBusiness, etc) and even Google+ their highest-profile side project ever.

In other words, even though Google Domains has a lot of benefits with Google, domain names is not and never will be Googles priority. Google Domains will always be under threat of shutting down even if its doing well. If they did shut down you wouldnt lose your domain name but would have to transition companies on Googles timeline.

Namecheap, GoDaddy, Hover, or other domain name registration companies only do domain name registration. They might go out of business, but as long as they are making money, they will never be unceremoniously shuttered.

The Google SEO Advantage / Disadvantage

Before looking at the next steps, I have to touch on one bit of SEO (search engine optimization) mythology. In the SEO world, there are 3 camps on Google products.

The first camp says that Google is inherently untrustworthy. They say you should never use their products because they just spy on you and are out to punish you. Its all about tricking and outsmarting Google.

The second camp says that Google is SEO. They say you should use all their products and do everything they say. Google will always prefer their own products and will reward everyone that uses them. Its all about cooperating and sucking up to Google.

The third camp says that neither of the first two camps rely on evidence or testing. The answer to all things SEO is it depends. Use Google products that suit your business; dont use Google products that dont work for you. Either way, focus on testing and doing the right things for your customers.

Im in the third camp. I have never seen any evidence that Google Domains will cleanse or un-blacklist a domain. Ive never seen any evidence that domains registered with Google get an advantage in the search results. I also have no idea why Google would even make that a factor.

Dont buy into SEO snake oil when you are looking for a domain name registrar. The only tested SEO truth is that the internet is made up of domain names. And you do need a custom domain (not a .weebly.com or .wordpress.com or .blogspot.com subdomain) to build a long-term project around.

The registrar you choose should be based on pricing, convenience, usability, and support.

Next Steps

If you:

• are just looking to register a few generic domains for your business
• value simplicity and transparency
• dont need a wide product selection
• dont need a super-competitive price point
• trust Google as a company

then Google Domains is a solid fit for you.

If you want lots of options and better pricing from a reputable company without the upsells, Id recommend checking out Namecheap instead.

If you just want a super-cheap domain right now and plan to delete it or transfer it out once you put it to use, then go check out a GoDaddy domain special.

Lastly, if you are more confused than ever, explore my BuzzFeed-esque best domain registrar listicle.

FAQs

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