Goodbye, Google Domains.

I had the honour of using Google Domains a few years back. I was using "jahed.dev" as an online identity for a couple of years before Google announced ".dev" domains, available for early access on Google Domains. I jumped on that as soon as I could.

Google Domains was a simple service with surprisingly convenient features baked in. Not that I remember any of them. Google has a lot of money to throw around, so of course they'll provide things for free that others services can't afford to.

Google Domains, like all tertiary Google products, was bound to be abandoned. It felt abandoned the moment I tried it years ago. Using it meant taking a risk, having no support if things go wrong, and being ready to migrate.

For me, the biggest risk was the universality of it. If my Google account gets banned for any reason, be it a lost credential or a poorly worded YouTube comment, it'd be a complete mess. So when ".dev" became available elsewhere, I transferred. Even though all ".dev" domains are managed by Google Registry, at least it's not tied to an account now.

A single company should never own a large chunk of the services we use. Companies the size of Google should be broken up. There's of course the risk of personal information being leaked and sold whenever these transfers happen, but that only highlights why regulations like GDPR matter.

I wouldn't be surprised if Google jettisons Sites and Blogger next.

Thanks for reading.