Google pitches dot-brand top level domain names

Company says it’s not too hard to transition to dot-brands.

Google Registry published a blog post today promoting the idea that companies should apply for their own dot-brand top level domain name.

The post explains that Google uses .google for some of its websites, and provides three lessons learned.

First, it says .brand domains can be the “safer” option. It states that for “security considerations”, Google couldn’t launch its blog “The Keyword” on google.com, so instead it went with blog.google. It’s not clear what those security concerns were, but the company notes that, “There are security risks inherent with hosting marketing websites and multiple services on the same domain as your key product, especially if the website is built by an outside agency (which is often the case for many companies).”

Second, it states that you can migrate to a .brand domain without sacrificing your SEO. This is easier said than done. I would expect Google to be able to pull it off, given that it can pick up the phone and call someone internally for help; it is harder for other companies.

It notes that some people will still go to the .com, however. It recommends setting up both URLs: it set up about.google.com to forward to about.google.

Finally, Google says a .brand domain “can help with your trademark”. It states, “It’s a best practice to avoid using second-level domains with your trademark in it. Anyone can register this type of domain to impersonate your brand for phishing, so it’s important not to train people to trust this kind of construct.”

However, the company also notes the importance of registering similar names in .com: it registered googleblog.com and forwards it to blog.google.

Perhaps more interesting would be for the company to explain why many of its products, such as Google Analytics and Google Ads, still use subdomains of google.com rather than .google or another dot-brand top level domain.