The Buzz seems to be about Google Domains at the moment: Google is launching as a Registrar and will soon offer plenty of fantastic things to do with domain names.

But… is there anything new with Google Domains?

I checked the features but… I found nothing that other Registrars do not already offer and I admit I expected to be a little more impressed:

• “No additional cost for private registration”: nothing new here except that it is free with a new domain name.
• “Branded emails”: 100 email aliases with a domain name. I understand it looks like it is a lot but it then says: “This way, your email is a professional reflection of your business”. To me, an alias is absolutely not a professional reflection of my business if I am not able to answer with the same email.
• “Easy domain forwarding”: email forwarding, nothing new here.
• “Customizable sub-domains”: this is interesting if it is made simple to create a web page fast but, to my understanding, this is just a possibility to create sub-domains. Again, nothing new here.
• “Fast, secure and reliable Internet infrastructure with Google”: 10 million resolutions per domain name per year. This is enough for any small website but I still do not see anything “new” in this offer.
• “Simple domain management tools”: as it says, managing domain names made simple. It is what the Registrar 1&1 tried to do and they made it so simple that it is now hard to have special configurations for a domain name.
• “Easy integration with top website builders”: all Registrars also offer this and they tend to make end users pay to have a simple webpage. It says “additional cost associated”: is this the end of Google Sites which is not mentionned anywhere?
• “New domain endings”: if the explanation shows an IDN Top-Level Domain, I understand it will offer all new domain name extensions, not IDN TLDs.
• “Support”: nothing new here.

I was expecting a few new things about Google launching as a Registrar. If GoDaddy already offers all new gTLDs like .CLUB and a ton of services; Uniregistry, which lanched recenlty, is good at making it simple: I like the Gmail integration on front page next to your domain name.

I am a fan of Google products and was expecting to be impressed by that little “something new” so, what is missing?

What is missing?

• What about Google Sites integration? It does not appear in the “Easy integration with top website builders” It is now possible to point a domain name to Google Sites (read more here);
• What about the .NEXUS and .ANDROID new gTLDs and the possibility to link a .NEXUS domain name directly to “do something” with my mobile?
• What about setting up a .email new domain name directly with Gmail?
• What about the possibility to point a domain name to a Google Page which is terribly missing?
• What about the possibility to point a new domain name to Hangout with .TALK or .HANGOUT new gTLDs? I don’t like to use Skype because it does not work on Chromium and I can’t use a URL in my signature to point readers to a place where they can give me a free call or do a video conf-call. I definitely need that option.
• When Google wins the .BLOG new gTLD, I will need to be able to point a .BLOG domain name to Blogger directly. Added August the 12: it is possible to set up a domain name to point to Blogger.
• LinkedIn is a terrible competitor of Google Communities and it has not yet considered offering domain names to point to its groups: will Google offer to point a domain name directly to a Google Community?

Google “is launching” and I am confident there are far more new ideas and projects than the ones advertized on its actual features. Come on google, impress us a little more.