What is Google's Domain Registration Service?

Existing or prospective ecommerce pros already had myriad options to buy and register a domain name; now Google has thrown itself into the mix. Google recently released its domain purchasing and registration tool, opening is domain management system to all U.S.-based customers. In addition to domain registration, the tool connects ecommerce owners with third-party site builders so they can create an online site and offers integrated email forwarding to Gmail and Google apps integration.

Google's domain registration service has quietly established itself as a no-fuss, intuitive system designed with small business owners in mind. The system includes phone support, which isn't true of all domain management systems and is particularly appealing for business owners. While Amazon also got quite a bit of press when it announced its own domain registration service, it's targeted more to developers who are already using an Amazon Web Services account.

Still, Google won't be the default one-stop-shop for all online business owners. GoDaddy and Namecheap are two established domain registration services with comparable pricing. Both offer customer support, hosting options, and extra add-ons such as Whois privacy.

Google DRS additional features

Google's domain registration service offers support for up to 100 sub-domains. And if you want to branch out beyond .com or .net domain extensions, Google Domains offers more than 60 domain alternatives, including .company, .biz, .florist, .shoes, .kitchen and .ninja for an additional fee. Google has partnered with third-party website builders including Squarespace, Weebly and Wix, with charges varying by provider.

Google Domains allows users to set up web forwarding, so if you opt for a .guru domain and customers search for your online store with a .com ending, Google will automatically drive them to the correct site address.