Update: Squarespace buys Google Domains... almost 😉
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00:00 Breaking News: Squarespace announced on Thursday, June 15 that it intends to purchase Google Domains.
00:08 Consider this the tech version of Add to Cart.
00:11 Now, what does this mean for those of us who use Google Domains and a Squarespace fans?
00:16 In this episode, we're going to talk about the facts.
00:23 Welcome to Think Inside The Square, a podcast full of quick tips and tricks that will help you create a Squarespace website that you're proud of.
00:30 I'm your host, Becca Harpain, creator of Insidethesquare.co, and in this episode, we'll be discussing the facts of the recent Squarespace announcement that they have an intent to purchase Google Domains.
00:42 To be clear, the term Squarespace is a trademark of Squarespace Incorporated. The term Google is a trademark of Alphabet Incorporated, and this podcast is not affiliated with either Squarespace Incorporated or with Alphabet Incorporated.
00:54 For a transcript of this episode,
00:56 along with the links to any
00:57 resources mentioned, visit Insidethesquare.co/podcast
01:03 On Thursday, June 15, 2023, Google announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with Squarespace Incorporated, where Squarespace intends
01:13 to purchase all domain registrations and related customer accounts from Google Domains.
01:20 They are still waiting for regulatory approvals and the actual transition, which kind of means Squarespace clicked Add to Cart but didn't complete the purchase yet.
01:30 There are a lot of questions and rumors circulating right now, and I'm not going to give into any of those rumors.
01:38 This episode is about the facts and facts only. So let's kick this off with the biggest question of them all what is Squarespace buying?
01:46 Squarespace is trying to purchase Google Domains, a branch of Alphabet Incorporated that includes about 10 million domains currently hosted on Google Domains, spread across millions of customer accounts, including mine.
02:01 Intent isn't official. So 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.
02:15 We've got to wait for those fancy regulatory approvals and all the closing conditions to fall into place.
02:20 So the official date? No one is sure just yet, but everyone is planning on this taking place before the end of the year.
02:28 What does it mean for your Google Domains? Nothing right now.
02:33 When the transaction is officially approved, a 100% money exchange. Done deal.
02:38 Your domain info is going to be migrated over time to Squarespace, subject to limited exceptions.
02:45 I'm doing air quotes right now, and you can't see it. This is a direct quote from the Google Domain support article. After this transition, your domain management will be managed in a Squarespace account. This includes DNS and who is settings and Domain name renewal.
03:01 If you want to read the full article, check out the show notes for this podcast episode at Insidethesquare.co/podcast.
03:08 I've got a link there if you want a little bit more clarity on exactly what that means. The next question what will happen to my domain.
03:16 When the switch is official, your domain name, registration, and DNS delegation, it's going to stay intact.
03:23 When you switch over to Squarespace, it's automatic. You don't touch a thing. And here's the best part.
03:28 For those of us that are already Squarespace customers, we get the ability to handle all of the Squarespace services and our domains directly in the Squarespace management console.
03:39 I have quite a few Squarespace websites available through there, and I have quite a few Google Domains.
03:44 So I get to access all of them from the same management console once things are switched over. And I think that's pretty cool. One login to rule them all.
03:53 Next question. Will the price of Google Domain's renewal change? The definitive agreement between Google and Squarespace includes assurances that customers like us will get the same renewal prices available for the next twelve months.
04:09 I'll say that one more time. We will get the same renewal prices available for the next twelve months. That's part of this agreement that was written in there that they publicly released.
04:18 Plus, Squarespace has also agreed to provide this is in quotation marks here, incentives for customers to build their website with the company's platform.
04:27 So again, as far as pricing is concerned, it's been officially announced that renewal prices will be the exact same for the next twelve months.
04:37 For those of us that have already purchased Domains from Domains Google.com and Squarespace has also said for any of those domains that don't have a website built on Squarespace, they're going to provide incentives.
04:48 What those incentives are, I have no idea. And again, we're not here to speculate in this episode. We're just sharing the facts.
04:55 Another very important question is what does this mean for any Google Workspaces that you've purchased through Domains?
05:02 Google.com again, once they get those thumbs up from the regulators and everything's officially sealed, squarespace is going to take charge of handling, billing and support services for Google Workspace, including G suite subscriptions.
05:15 Now, right now, Google Domains is taking care of that, but after the transition, it's all going to be in Squarespace's hands.
05:22 So during the transition period, your customer and billing info, it's going to gradually migrate over to Squarespace, with a few exceptions.
05:30 But once it's done, your Workspace subscription that was previously billed by Google Domains, it'll be managed in your Squarespace account and billed by them.
05:39 So just to be clear, this won't affect any Workspace subscriptions that were directly billed by Google Workspace or other workspace resellers.
05:47 This is specifically for Google workspaces purchased through domains. Google.com?+
05:52 The next big question what does this mean for your Squarespace websites?
05:56 Nothing as far as we can tell. Squarespace is acquiring a ton of domains from Alphabet Incorporated.
06:02 But all of the announcements have been about that. Nothing about Squarespace itself. And last but not least, the burning question that everyone wants to know the answer to when will we know more?
06:15 No idea. Squarespace had a big public announcement about it on Friday, and the official support articles where I'm getting all of this information.
06:22 I've linked them in the show notes for this episode, and I'm sure they're going to be updated with the latest and greatest info as this story develops.
06:29 So definitely visit Insidethesquare.co/podcast for the latest information.
06:35 Thank you so much for listening to this quick update episode of Thinkinsidethesquare
06:40 I have a lot more to share with you about making an amazing Squarespace website that's uniquely yours, so be sure to subscribe to this podcast wherever you happen to be listening to this episode.
06:48 Thanks again for listening and most importantly, have fun with your Squarespace website. Bye for now.
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