Last One Into The Pool: Google Offers Web Site Registration (GOOG)

For reasons that would be unclear to almost any observer, Google is entering the business of web site addresses. The company says that it is motivated by its ability to offer customers web-mail, calendar, and instant messaging software. Google will offer the service in partnership with GoDaddy and another registration firm. In other words, the core feature of registering domain names will not even come from Google.

Google may not be the last company to enter the domain business, but it will be close. The idea that the program will help Google distribute its other software products may make a vague kind of sense, but it is difficult to see how the company will pick up many new customers in such a crowded market.

Maybe the new domain registrations can come with access to Google Earth.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.