Google

Recently, Google announced the launch of its generative AI chatbot called Bard. Despite the likely trademark implications of registering domain names with “Bard” in them, some domain investors and others spent money on registrations and aftermarket purchases. Unfortunately for people hoping to cash in on Bard-related domain names, Google is changing its branding from Bard to Gemini, as Adam Maysonet shared earlier:

Google announced that Bard is officially being rebranded to Gemini. Bad news for anyone who spent money on Bard domains hoping to cash in. pic.twitter.com/V2d7T6YJzK

— Adam Maysonet (@synozeer) February 5, 2024

A few months ago, I sold a domain name via Squadhelp. Based on how the sale was made, I was pretty sure the domain name was not acquired by an existing brand. When I went to check to see if the domain name was being used using Safari, I was forwarded to another website. I was surprised to see that it forwarded me to an existing website.

A Whois search did not reveal any additional information, so I explored further. I visited the domain name on a Chrome browser, and I was taken to a default GoDaddy landing page. This perplexed me. A bit of additional researched showed me what happened.

The other day, Adam Strong shared a similar story about being redirected on Safari:

I received a press release this afternoon with some interesting domain industry news – Google is selling off its domain registrar business. According to the press release, “Squarespace will acquire the assets associated with the Google Domains business, which will be winding down following a transition period.”

This is surprising news to me. Google has become a top 5 domain registrar, and selling domain names to its vast base of customers seems like a pretty solid cross-sell opportunity. That said, domain names have a very low margin and it might be a high touchpoint business requiring considerable customer support.

Google posted a job listing that might be of interest to someone with domain name industry experience. The company is looking to hire a Product Management Lead for its gTLD Registry team. The job appears to be based in New York City, San Francisco, or possibly remotely.

Google operates nearly a dozen new gTLD extensions. Two of its most popular and widely used extensions include .App and .Dev. The company also operates .Day, .New, .Page, and a few others. It is possible that Google would be interested in applying for additional extensions once ICANN opens its next round of new gTLD applications or the company could acquire currently operating extensions.

The job description doesn’t give a ton of information about the role, but the responsibility section offers more details about what the person will be responsible for doing. Here’s an excerpt with general details about the job: