Google Domains exits beta after more than seven years

Google Domains will gradually be phased out of beta from Wednesday. Google’s domain registration service was in that phase for more than 7.5 years and is now generally available in 26 different countries.

According to Google, its domain registration service has now handled millions of active registrations, although the company does not provide exact figures on the number of domain names registered through the service. Google Domains will be out of beta from Wednesday, although that could last until April 15.

Interested parties can choose from over 300 domain extensions through Google Domains. In addition, the service gives users free access to Google Sites or tools from partners such as Wix, Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly and Bluehost to create a website without entering any code. Users also get access to a “high-performance” DNS service, which uses the same infrastructure that Google uses, the company said.

Google Domains began a closed beta in June 2014, open to invitees only. Six months later, a public beta began in the United States. As of the closed beta launch date, the service has been in a testing phase for more than 7.5 years. That’s longer than Gmail: Google’s email service was in beta from 2004 to 2009.