Squarespace Says It Will Acquire Google Domains Assets From Alphabet

Google is shutting the doors for its domain business and selling the assets to website building platform Squarespace. Bloomberg cites a source claiming that the sale is valued at approximately $180 million. Google Domains has had a rough history with testing and release, as the service remained locked to the U.S. market for seven years following its launch in 2015.

It was only in 2022 that Google decided to expand Domains to a pool of 26 countries, but has now abruptly decided to call it quits with the experiment after just over a year. According to an official statement from Squarespace, Google will wind down the domain registry and hosting business after an unspecified transition period pending regulatory approval. The deal is expected to close in the ongoing year's third quarter, while Squarespace will start taking over the reins of key Google Domains services in 2024. Matt Madrigal, VP and General Manager at Merchant Shopping of Google, says the transition phase will span "over the coming months."

Regarding the sale, the Google executive adds that Squarespace will offer an "integrated experience of purchasing and managing domains along with offering other tools that these customers may need." Squarespace already has a dedicated Google Domains page live on its website, seeking to answer the concerns of existing Google Domains customers, and a FAQ page for more details.

With the purchase of Google Domains assets, Squarespace will become the new business marketplace for nearly 10 million domains originally tied to Google's relatively short-lived endeavor. For customers worried about the renewal of domains purchased from the Google service, the company assures that Squarespace "honor all existing Google Domains customers' renewal prices for at least 12 months following the closing of the transaction."

The two companies also promise that domain migration will be a seamless process, but that's barely ever the case. It is also not clear whether following the 12-month honorary phase of keeping the renewal rates intact, Squarespace will charge more or begin to push its website-building services as a mandatory offering.

But it looks like Squarespace got its hands on a plum business opportunity. The company says it will be the exclusive domain market for any person who aims to get a domain with their Google Workspace subscription for a minimum three-year duration. Squarespace, which made a name for itself as a place to build websites, also offers domain name registration services. For existing Google Domains customers, they don't have to take any action on their end, for now. Squarespace will let users move their website to its own platform alongside the domain transfer, and move their custom domain from one site to another, as long it is hosted on Squarespace servers.