Earlier this year, Google made a surprising announcement that it would be discontinuing its Google Domains service, which had been in operation for nearly a decade. Instead, the company opted to sell its domain business to the well-known website builder, Squarespace. As this transition unfolds, Google has now ceased the sale of new domains through its platform.
The decision to stop selling new domains via Google Domains quietly took effect on September 7, 2023. This change, while made public on the Domains website, was not widely communicated to users. It’s worth noting that the announcement appears only when users are signed out or browsing in incognito mode. Interestingly, Google did not send out any email notifications regarding this shift. Instead, some users happened to notice the change on the specified date. Visitors to the Google Domains website are now redirected to consider purchasing domains through Squarespace, even through an affiliate link.
The message displayed on the Google Domains website is clear: “Google no longer offers new domain registrations, but try Squarespace.”
On September 7, 2023, Squarespace acquired all domain registrations and related customer accounts from Google Domains. Over the coming months, customers and their domains will be smoothly transitioned to Squarespace. Squarespace offers domains starting at a competitive price of $12 per year, which aligns with the rates Google charged for what it considered “average” domains.
Importantly, this change does not force existing users away from managing their purchased domains through domains.google.com. All the existing controls and functionalities remain in place. However, users are unable to add any new domains to their portfolios. A notice prominently displayed at the top of a customer’s library of domains clearly states that “Squarespace is the registrar of record for your domain” and that “Google will manage your domain during a transition period.” The acquisition of Google Domains by Squarespace was successfully completed on September 7, and shortly thereafter, the sale of new domains came to a halt.
