Last week, Google announced the sale of their domains business. In an unexpected move, Google Domains was sold to Squarespace for a low, low price that has those of us in the domains biz scratching our heads.
But more importantly, this acquisition has rocked SaaS companies who have been relying on the Google Domains API to sell domains in their applications. Now, with the future of Google Domains so uncertain, it's anybody's guess what happens next.
The Google Domains reseller model
Developers of SaaS applications – and even some agencies – use the Google Domains API to resell domains to their users. It creates an all-in-one platform that keeps users from navigating away from apps to domain marketplaces (which may have competing products), and creates a revenue stream for these companies.
There are few domain reseller tools available that truly integrate within an application. The Google Domains API made this process easy, and paid the companies who used it a small commission for each domain that they sold.
However, with the sale of Google Domains to Squarespace, users of the API are looking for alternatives – and fast.
The best alternative to the Google Domains API: Entri Sell
Entri Sell is a domain reseller API for SaaS companies and agencies. It's incredibly simple to set up, has a pre-built and fully whitelabellable UI, and best of all, pays up to 3x what Google Domains does, regardless of top level domain (TLD).
Through Entri's partnership with Ionos, your company can create a robust new revenue stream overnight, without having to become a registrar.
Better still, all of the domains purchased through Entri Sell are automatically configured and set up for your users – no manual DNS configuration required.
To learn more about how Entri Sell works, visit our dev docs.
Creating a full-circle custom domains user experience
Enabling custom domains in an application can have profound effects on product stickiness and the lifetime value (LTV) of users. Unfortunately, this is where the internet gets old school. The processes for customizing, connecting, selling, and securing domains are too technical for most users.
Entri is the first solution that addresses every touchpoint in the custom domains user experience:
Enable custom domains in your application if you haven't already, using Entri Power
Start selling domains in your application for free using Entri Sell
Automatically configure DNS records for users who want to connect their custom domains, using Entri Connect
Automatically provision SSL certificates for your users' domains using Entri Secure
The business case for investing in usability is particularly evident in custom domains. Users who connect custom domains are highly valuable, stick around longer, immerse themselves in products, and spend more over time than non-domain-connected users.
SaaS is a competitive space, and registrars have caught on to the traffic being sent to them by website builders and other tools that don't have domain purchasing built in. If your product is a website builder, do you really want to send your users to GoDaddy to purchase a domain if it means they could build their website there too?
Connect the dots, sell domains natively, and make money doing it. Entri makes it easy.