Breaking News: Squarespace Buys Google Domains… Almost 😉 Update June 19, 2023

Squarespace announced on Thursday, June 15th, that it intends to buy Google Domains. Consider this the tech version of Add To Cart.

What does this mean for those of us who use Google domains and us Squarespace fans? In this episode of ThinkInsideTheSquare, we’ll skip the speculation and cover the facts.
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Here are my sources of info for this episode:
https://support.google.com/domains/answer/13689670?hl=en#zippy=%2Cfor-customers-who-purchased-a-domain-directly-from-google-domains%2Cfor-customers-who-purchased-a-domain-in-the-google-workspace-sign-up-flow
https://domains.squarespace.com/
https://domains.squarespace.com/faq
Learn more at https://insidethesquare.co/pocast
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❓ So let’s kick this quick episode off with the biggest question of them all – what is Squarespace buying?
Squarespace is trying to purchase Google Domains, a branch of Alphabet inc that includes about 10 million domains currently hosted on Google Domains spread across millions of customers, including me.

❓ “Intent” isn’t official – when is this purchase actually going to take place?
Here’s the deal – The whole transaction thing is set to go down in the third quarter of 2023. But it’s not a done deal just yet. We gotta wait for those fancy regulatory approvals and all those regular closing conditions to fall into place. So when is the official date? No one is sure just yet but everyone is planning on this taking place before the end of the year.

❓ What does it mean for your Google domains?
Nothing right now. When the transaction is officially approved – a 100% money exchanged done deal – your domain info will be migrated over time to Squarespace, “subject to limited exceptions” This is a direct quote from the Google domains support article. After this transition, your domain management will be managed in a Squarespace account. This includes DNS and WHOIS settings and domain name renewal. Check the link in the show notes for this episode to read that article from Google if you need some clarity. You’ll find a link at https://insidethesquare.co/podcast

❓ What will happen to my domain when the switch is official?
Your domain name registration and DNS delegation will stay intact when you switch over to Squarespace – it will be automatic. And here’s the best part: once you become a Squarespace customer, you’ll have the freedom to handle other cool services (if they’re available) right from their management console.

❓ Will the price of Google domains renewal change?
The “definitive agreement” between Google and Squarespace includes assurances that customers will get the same renewal prices available to them for the next 12 months. Plus, Squarespace agrees to provide “incentives” for customers to build their website with the company’s platform.

❓ What does it mean for your Squarespace websites?
Nothing as far as we can tell – Squarespace is acquiring a ton of domains from Alphabet inc. but all of the announcements have been about that; nothing about Squarespace.

❓ What does it mean for any Google workspaces you purchased through domains.google.com?
Again, once they get those thumbs-up from the regulators and everything’s officially sealed, Squarespace is gonna take charge of handling the billing and support services for Google Workspace (including G Suite) subscriptions. Right now, Google Domains is taking care of that, but after the transition, it’s all gonna be in Squarespace’s hands. During a transition period, your customer and billing info will be gradually migrated over to Squarespace, with only a few exceptions. Once that’s done, your Workspace subscription that was previously billed by Google Domains will be managed in your Squarespace account and billed by them. Just to be clear, this won’t affect any Workspace subscriptions that were directly billed by Google Workspace or other Workspace resellers.

❓ When will we know more?
No idea! Squarespace had a big public announcement about it on Friday, and the official support articles are where I am getting my info are on https:./insidethesquare.co/podcast

I hope you appreciated this quick update episode of Think Inside the Square.

I have a lot more tips and tricks to share with you about making an amazing Squarespace website that is uniquely yours, so be sure to subscribe to this podcast wherever you happen to be listening to this episode.

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