Web Hosting by Google?
Gary Price points to a new Google domain (”Googlehostedservices.com”) and speculates about whether Google will become a webhosting company. He also points to “Google Apps for Your Domain” as further evidence of this possibility.
(This is the point in the post where the analyst says: “See how smart I am, I said something like this before.” I always find that a pompous thing to do, but now I’m gonna do it myself.) 
For slightly different reasons, in June of last year I argued that Google ought to acquire a small business website hosting company. My argument was mostly about the sales channel that it would acquire (sort of a smaller-scale version of what the company just did with Intuit). But it makes sense to me on several levels. Yahoo! is the largest small business webhost. Microsoft also offers hosting services for small businesses.
Many of the articles that discussed the Intuit relationship said that Google would host landing pages for SMEs that didn’t have sites (a number that is elusive but probably in the range of 6-8 million overall; it’s unclear how many Intuit customers don’t have sites).
Right now, Google offers an informal webhosting product in Page Creator. Among the free site tools, it’s very good but you don’t get your own domain and the look and feel is very simple. (Smart SMEs can redirect their domains to this and voila: a free site with your own URL).
Google could buy Web.com, for example. The company’s market cap. is $66 million and it has struggled as mainstream webhosting has become something of a commodity. In early 2005 the company was estimated to have something approaching 200,000 hosting customers. (I searched through the most recent 10Q but couldn’t find an updated figure.) Regardless, there are other such companies out there that Google could acquire.
While there would be revenue, the primary value would be the customer base and the channel, now and for the future.
(Along those same lines, Google, Microsoft or Yahoo! could acquire a ReachLocal or WebVisible and run them as independent divisions.)
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Greg Sterling is the founding principal of Sterling Market Intelligence, a consulting and research firm focused on online consumer and advertiser behavior and the relationship between the Internet and traditional media, with an emphasis on the local marketplace.
I think that google should offer web hosting because, they are the leading web page in being a search engin ( so I think along with all my friends and family )and right now, I am creating a web page for my father inlaws small buisness and I am trying to find a good web host and I think that google would be great for the simply fact that when some types in ” Marketing ” in googles search engin, it would be great for my web page to come up close to the top like the Sponsered Links. Only I would be a subscriber to google’s web hosting( if they had web hosting ), and I would not have a problem putting google flyers on my page, because google is a great search engin and would encourage others to use it, so it would not be a problem to advertise for google. Well, these are my thoughts and hopefully google with someday consider openning web hosting for small buiosness purposes. Thanks.
to transfer the web site from yahoo to google what do you want me to do.Thanks Charlie.
Hi,
I would like to know if and when Google will enter a Web Hosting Business? I would like to have our webpage transfer from the server we use to a google server. Then fine tune the webpage. Thanks
Me too, I like that Google start webhosting on the full run. I’ll pay.
I would like to transfer my old,but very bad site..call microscopes-for -sale.com. The name has to be change National binoculars & microscope Repairs. Thanks Charlie. My phone 210 736 4541. San Antonio,Texas 78212 at 3122 N. Saint marys St.
i want to host my company’s web site,
i want hosting rates and area
want to create a website on google. What do I need to do?
I need to book a domain.
i want to register a new domain .which type od sevices do the company provide to me.
hi
hi
i would like to know that can i register the domain name with web hosting and after register for ad sense in same company..
hope for a reply