Google Domains Domain Name Registration Agreement

Last modified: 1 January 2021

This Domain Name Registration Agreement (the 'Agreement') is made and entered into by and between Google, the sponsoring registrar, or acting as reseller for the sponsoring registrar ('we', 'us', 'our' or 'Registrar') and you, the person or entity registering a domain or domains through Google. 'Google' has the meaning given at https://cloud.google.com/terms/google-entity.

In this Agreement "you," "your," and "Registrant" refer to you or any agent, employee or person authorised to act on your behalf, and the registrant listed in the WHOIS contact information of the domain name.

This Agreement is effective as of the date you click "Buy" or accept the Agreement (the "Effective Date"). You represent and warrant that: (i) you have full legal authority to bind to this Agreement; (ii) you have read and understand this Agreement; (iii) you agree to this Agreement; (iv) you have obtained and will maintain any required third party consents necessary under this Agreement; and (v) you have the authority to approve a Change of Registrant. If you do not have the legal authority, please do not click to "Buy" or accept the Agreement. This Agreement governs your access to and use of the Services.

  1. Services.

    1. Domain Name Registration Services. Google LLC is an accredited registrar with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") for Top Level Domain Names ("TLDs"). We are bound by the Registrar Accreditation Agreement with ICANN and an additional agreement the applicable Registry Operator for any TLD for which we offer domain name registration. Our domain name registrations are only for limited terms, which end on either (i) expiry date communicated to you, subject to Registry policies, or (ii) cancellation of the Registered Name registrations by you or us. Domain name registrations are not effective until the Registry Operator enters the domain into the Registry database.

    2. Domain Name Availability. We do not guarantee the availability of a domain name, even if our system indicates that the domain name is available. You agree that we are not liable or responsible for any errors, inaccuracies, omissions or any other actions by the Registry arising out of or related to a request to register, renew, modify the settings for, or transfer of a domain name registration.

    3. Registration Acceptance. We may accept or reject your application for registration or renewal for any reason at our sole discretion. We are not liable or responsible for any third party’s errors, omissions or other actions arising out of or related to your domain name application, registration or renewal.

    4. Account. You must have an Account to use the Services, and are responsible for the information provided to create the Account, the security of passwords for the Account, and for any use of the Account. If you become aware of any unauthorised use of the Account or the passwords for the Account, you will notify Google as promptly as possible. We are not responsible for any failure to comply with this clause, or for any delay in shutting down your Account after a reported breach of security to Google. If your Account is disabled, we may also disable your Google Domains Account, suspend the Services, block transfer requests or delete the Services.

    5. Third Party Services. We may offer certain Third Party Services (e.g. services that register TLDs for which we are not an accredited registrar, or services that provide private or proxy registration). The Third Party Services are subject to separate terms and conditions in addition to the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement. In the event of a conflict between such Third Party Services terms and conditions and this Agreement, the terms and conditions of this Agreement will govern.

    6. Other Google Services. We may offer Other Google Services. The Other Google Services are subject to separate terms and conditions in addition to the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement. If you enable sharing access with another user through the Google Domains Site, sharing may be applied to the Other Google Services.

    7. Modifications.

      1. To the Services. We may: (i) make new tools, features or functionality available from time to time through the Services, and (ii) add new services to the "Services" definition from time to time, the use of which may be contingent upon your agreement to additional terms. If we make a material change to the Services, we will inform you, provided that you have subscribed with us to be informed about such change.

      2. To the Agreement. We may make changes to this Agreement, from time to time, including changes required by ICANN, ICANN consensus policies or Registry Operators. If we make a material change, we will provide you with notice of such material changes. If you do not agree to the revised Agreement, please stop using the Services.

  2. Payment Terms.

    1. Fees. You will pay all Fees due for all services purchased from Google. All Fees are non-refundable unless otherwise noted in the refund policy.

    2. Taxes. You are responsible for any Taxes, and you will pay us for the Services without any reduction for Taxes. If we are obligated to collect or pay Taxes, the Taxes will be charged to you, unless you provide us with a timely and valid tax exemption certificate authorised by the appropriate taxing authority. If under the applicable taxing legislation, you are required to pay taxes on your own and undertake statutory compliance, then you shall do so on your own account and cost.

    3. Incomplete Payment. If we are unable to charge all Fees through your selected payment method, or if we receive notification of a chargeback, reversal, payment dispute, or are changed a penalty for any fee we previously charged to your selected payment method, we may pursue all available lawful remedies to obtain payment, including immediately cancelling any Services registered or renewed on your behalf, or returning the domain name to the auction pool.

    4. Price Changes. We reserve the right to change our Fees at any time, and such changes shall be posted and effective immediately without need for further notice to you.

  3. Registrant Information.

    1. Protection of Personal Data.

      1. The Services are subject to Google Privacy Policy. We will take reasonable precautions to protect any contact information or personal data submitted by you from loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

      2. To the extent permitted by ICANN and applicable law, Google may use the publicly available information that you provided. We will retain your information as directed by ICANN Data Retention Specification and any ICANN consensus policies.

      3. If you disclose any third party individual’s personal information, you represent to us that you have provided your privacy policy to that individual and obtained that individual’s consent to disclosing personal information to us, in compliance with the requirements of the applicable law, the ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement, and any ICANN consensus policies.

    2. Registrant Information.

      1. You must provide the following information in order to register a domain name ("Registrant Information"):

        1. Registered Name contact information, including name, postal address, email address and voice telephone number of the Registered Name Holder;

        2. Contact information for the Registered Name’s administrative and technical contact, including: name, postal address, email address and voice telephone number, which may be identical to the Registered Name Holder;

        3. Billing contact for the Registered Name.

      2. You can access and change the Registrant Information by logging into your Google Domains Account.

    3. Provision of Registrant Information to Third Parties.

      1. ICANN Required Disclosures.

        1. Domain name registration requires sharing the Registrant Information, in whole or in part, with the applicable Registry Operator and with ICANN. As required by ICANN, this information must also be made publicly available by means of WHOIS, and that the Registry Operator may also be required to make this information publicly available by WHOIS. Google and the Registry Operator may be required to archive this information with a third-party escrow service. Registrant consents to and gives permission for all such required disclosures. Further, Registrant represents and warrants that, if Registrant is providing information about a third party, Registrant has notified the third party of the required disclosures and the purpose for the disclosures and Registrant has obtained the third party’s consent to such disclosure.

        2. ICANN may establish or modify the policies or guidelines that relate to the amount and type of contact information that we may or must make available to the public or to private entities, and the manner in which such information is made available.

      2. Third Party Service Providers. You consent to us providing some of the Registrant Information to Third Party Services providers as necessary to facilitate the provision of those Third Party Services that you opt into.

      3. Legal Process. We may also disclose Registrant Information to the extent required by applicable law or Legal Process.

    4. Proxy Registration Service. If you elect to use a proxy registration service, during the period in which such service is enabled and in accordance to the proxy registration service’s terms and conditions, WHOIS will make publicly available the third-party registration proxy service provider’s name and contact information instead of your contact information. In such a case, the proxy registration service will be the Registered Name Holder of record, although you are still subject to liability for use of the Registered Name.

  4. Your Obligations.

    1. Accuracy of Information.

      1. The Registrant Information must be accurate and up to date.

      2. Within 5 business days of when any Registrant Information or any information you provided changes, you must correct and update.

      3. If you fail to comply with the above or fail to respond for over 15 days to our enquiries regarding the accuracy of your information, then you will be in material breach of this Agreement and we may suspend and/or cancel the Services or your Google Domains Account.

    2. Third-Party Registration.

      1. If you intend to license use of a Registered Name to a third party, you are the deemed Registered Name Holder of record and you remain responsible for providing and updating your own full contact information and accurate administrative and technical contact information to facilitate timely resolution of any problems that arise in connection with the Registered Name.

      2. A Registered Name Holder that licenses a Registered Name under this Section 4.b. is liable for harm caused by wrongful use of the Registered Name, unless it discloses within 7 days the licensor’s identity and current contact information (as provided by the licensor) to the party that provides the Registered Name Holder with reasonable evidence of actional harm.

      3. If you resell domain names, you will notify any individuals whose personal information you have obtained about ICANN’s policy regarding the possible uses of their personal information. You must also obtain consent, and evidence of consent, from those individuals for such use of the personal information they provide.

  5. Domain Name Transfer.

    1. Transfer to Other Registrars.

      1. Your transfer of Registered Names will be governed by the ICANN Transfer Policy, including the Registrar Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy, and Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, as these policies may be modified from time to time.

      2. In order for you to transfer your Registered Name(s) to a registrar other than us ("Gaining Registrar"), you must access your Google Domains Account, unlock the Registered Name and obtain the EPP "AuthCode" which is required to transfer Registered Names in an EPP Registry Operator. The transfer itself must be initiated by the Gaining Registrar. Subject to the ICANN Transfer Policy, each registrar has its own transfer process and we are not responsible for any issues with the Gaining Registrar’s system. Once you have successfully initiated a transfer request through the Gaining Registrar, you must approve the request.

      3. You may not transfer a Registered Name (i) within 60 days of initial registration; (ii) within 60 days of a transfer; (iii) if there is a dispute regarding the identity of the Registered Name Holder; (iv) if you fail to pay Fees; (v) if the Registered Name is expired; or (vi) if a Registered Name is subject to a lock due to UDRP, URS or court proceedings.

      4. You acknowledge that we will not prohibit you from transferring your Registered Name to other registrars within 60 days of a Change of Registrant.

      5. We will follow the procedures for both gaining and losing registrars as outlined in the ICANN Transfer Policy. During the transfer period, if the domain name expires, you will need to reinstate the transfer request following a renewal or redemption of the domain name. You may be required to resubmit a transfer request if there is a communication failure.

    2. Records. You will maintain your own records appropriate to document and prove the initial domain name registration date.

    3. Transfers to Google. We may also transfer domain names registered through us from a third-party accredited registrar or reseller to Google LLC’s accreditation, or vice versa, in order to more effectively provide Services, or otherwise, in our sole discretion.

  6. Representations and Warranties. Registrant represents and warrants that:

    1. all information provided by you in connection with your procurement of the Services is complete and accurate;

    2. Registrant Information will be kept current;

    3. you are not using the Services for an unlawful purpose;

    4. registering the Registered Name and directly or indirectly using the Services will not violate any applicable laws or regulations, legal rights of others, or our rules or policies including, but not limited to:

      1. engaging in spam, phishing or other deceptive practices;

      2. distributing malware or other items of a destructive or deceptive nature; or

      3. allowing child sexual abuse imagery or other exploitation of children.

  7. Suspension and Cancellation. We may in our sole discretion, deny, suspend or cancel any registration or transaction, or place any domain name(s) on registry lock, hold or similar status:

    1. if you breach this Agreement (including a breach of any of the representations and warranties in Section 6);

    2. to comply with a court order, other legal requirement, or any dispute resolution process;

    3. to comply with specifications adopted by any industry group generally recognised as authoritative with respect to the Internet;

    4. as required by ICANN, a Registry Operator or law enforcement;

    5. to protect the integrity and stability of the Services;

    6. if there was an error in the registration process for such Registered Name; or

    7. if your Account is disabled or terminated.

  8. Term.

    1. Term of Agreement. Unless earlier terminated in accordance with this Agreement, this Agreement will remain in effect as long as (a) you have a Registered Name with us and (b) Google LLC is an ICANN-accredited registrar.

    2. Expiry of Registered Name. The Registered Name will expire on the expiry date specified in the Services, or the date determined by the applicable Registry Operator or ICANN policy.

    3. Termination. If you breach this Agreement, you may no longer use the Google Domains Site and we may terminate or suspend your Google Domains Account and cancel or suspend any of your Registered Names. We may terminate this Agreement or any part or feature of the Services for our convenience at any time without liability to you.

  9. Dispute Resolution.

    1. You are bound by all ICANN consensus policies and all policies of any relevant Registry Operator, which may be modified from time to time by publication on the ICANN or registry website or to this agreement.

    2. You acknowledge, understand and agree to be bound by the following documents, as they may be amended from time to time, which are incorporated and made an integral part of this Agreement:

      1. Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy;

      2. Uniform Rapid Suspension Procedure and Rules; and

      3. Transfer Dispute Resolution Policy

    3. In disputes arising from or related to use of the Registered Name, you will submit to the courts of the following jurisdictions (without prejudice to other potentially applicable jurisdictions):

      1. of your domicile;

      2. Mountain View, CA, USA; or

      3. the location of the Registry Operator.

    4. To resolve mistakes in registering the Registered Name or disputes regarding the Registered Name, your Registered Name registration may be subject to cancellation or transfer under any ICANN-adopted specification or policy, or under any registrar or Registry Operator procedure not inconsistent with an ICANN adopted specification or policy.

    5. If we are notified that a complaint has been filed with a governmental, administrative, or judicial body, regarding a Registered Name, we may take whatever action we deem necessary in our sole discretion and without any liability to you regarding modification, assignment or control of the Registered Name to comply with the governmental, administrative or judicial body’s requirements until the dispute is settled.

  10. Intellectual Property Rights. Except for the rights expressly set forth in the Agreement, this Agreement does not grant either party any implied or other rights to the other’s intellectual property, including any content.

  11. DISCLAIMER. EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR IN THIS AGREEMENT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE AND OUR SUPPLIERS DO NOT MAKE ANY OTHER WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. WE AND OUR SUPPLIERS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR THE DELETION OF OR FAILURE TO STORE ANY CONTENT AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS MAINTAINED OR TRANSMITTED THROUGH USE OF THE SERVICES. NEITHER WE NOR OUR SUPPLIERS, WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED. THE SERVICES ARE NOT DESIGNED, MANUFACTURED OR INTENDED FOR HIGH RISK ACTIVITIES.

  12. Indemnification. You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless Google and the Registry Operator and their subcontractors, and their respective directors, officers, employees, agents and affiliates, from and against any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable legal fees and expenses) arising out of or related to:

    1. your registration of the Registered Name and use of the Services;

    2. use of the Registered Name in violation of this Agreement; or

    3. your violation of any third-party right, including Intellectual Property Rights.

  13. Limitation of Liability.

    1. Limitation on Indirect Liability. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE AND OUR SUPPLIERS, WILL NOT BE LIABLE UNDER THIS AGREEMENT FOR LOST REVENUES, OR DATA, FINANCIAL LOSSES OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, EVEN IF WE KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT SUCH DAMAGES WERE POSSIBLE AND EVEN IF DIRECT DAMAGES DO NOT SATISFY A REMEDY.

    2. Limitation on Amount of Liability. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE TOTAL LIABILITY FOR US AND OUR SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTORS FOR ANY CLAIMS UNDER THIS AGREEMENT, INCLUDING FOR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES, IS LIMITED TO THE LOWER OF (I) THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU TO USE THE SERVICES DURING THE TWELVE MONTHS PRIOR TO THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY OR (II) US$5,000.

    3. Exceptions to Limitations. These limitations of liability do not apply to violations of a party’s Intellectual Property Rights by the other party, indemnification obligations or your payment obligations.

  14. Provisions Applicable to Registration of Specific TLDs. Registration of certain TLDs are subject to compliance with the additional terms set forth at https://domains.google.com/tos which may be updated from time to time.

  15. Miscellaneous.

    1. Notices. All notices must be in English in writing and addressed to the other party’s legal department and primary point of contact. The email address for notices being sent to Google’s Legal Department is legal-notices@google.com. Notice will be treated as given on receipt, as verified by written or automated receipt or by electronic log (as applicable).

    2. Assignment. You may not assign any part of this Agreement without our prior written consent.

    3. Force Majeure. No party will be liable for failure or delay in performance to the extent caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control.

    4. No Waiver. No party will be treated as having waived any rights by not exercising (or delaying the exercise of) any rights under this Agreement.

    5. No Agency. This Agreement does not create any agency, partnership or joint venture between the parties.

    6. Third Party Beneficiary. Registry Operator for your Registered Name shall be the intended third-party beneficiary of this Agreement. As such parties to this agreement acknowledge and agree that the third-party beneficiary rights of the Registry Operator have vested and that the Registry Operator has relied on its third-party beneficiary rights under this Agreement. Third-party beneficiary rights of the Registry Operator shall survive any termination of this Agreement.

    7. Severability. If any term (or part of a term) of this Agreement is invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the rest of the Agreement will remain in effect.

    8. Governing Law. ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE SERVICES WILL BE GOVERNED BY CALIFORNIA LAW, EXCLUDING THAT STATE’S CONFLICT OF LAWS RULES, AND WILL BE LITIGATED EXCLUSIVELY IN THE FEDERAL OR STATE COURTS OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, USA; THE PARTIES CONSENT TO PERSONAL JURISDICTION IN THOSE COURTS.

    9. Equitable Relief. Nothing in this Agreement will limit either party’s ability to seek equitable relief.

    10. Survival. The following sections will survive expiry or termination of this Agreement: 3.c. (Provision of Registrant Information to Third Parties), 6 (Representations and Warranties), 10 (Intellectual Property Rights), 11 (Disclaimer), 12 (Indemnification), 13 (Limitation of Liability) and 15 (Miscellaneous).

    11. Entire Agreement. This Agreement supersedes all other agreements between the parties relating to its subject matter. In entering into this Agreement, neither party has relied on, and neither party will have any right or remedy based on, any statement, representation or warranty (whether made negligently or innocently), except those expressly set out in this Agreement. The URL Terms (as amended from time to time) are incorporated by reference into this Agreement. We may provide an updated URL in place of any URL in this Agreement.

Definitions

"Account" means your Google account.

"Change of Registrant" means a change to the registrant name, organisation, email address or the administrative contact email address if there is no registrant email address.

"Fees" means the applicable fees for the Service, Third Party Services, and Other Google Services.

"Google Domains Account" means your account for Google Domains.

"Google Domains Site" means the Google Domains website.

"ICANN" means Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

"ICANN Transfer Policy" means the ICANN policy at https://www.icann.org/transfers/.

"Intellectual Property Rights" means current and future worldwide rights under patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark, and moral rights laws, and other similar rights.

"Legal Process" means a data disclosure request made under law, governmental regulation, court order, subpoena, warrant, governmental regulatory or agency request, or other valid legal authority, legal procedure, or similar process.

"Other Google Services" means Google services other than the Services that are provided through the Google Domains Site and that are subject to separate terms and conditions.

"Registered Name" means a domain name within a TLD covered by this Agreement, whether consisting of two or more (e.g. john.smith.name) levels, about which a Registry Operator (or an affiliate engaged in providing registry services) maintains data in a Registry database, arranges for such maintenance, or derives revenue from such maintenance.

"Registered Name Holder" means the holder of a Registered Name.

"Registry" or "Registry Operator" means the person or entity then responsible for providing registry services for a specific TLD in accordance with an agreement between ICANN (or its assignee) and that person or entity or, if that agreement is terminated or expires, in accordance with an agreement.

"Services" means the domain name registration services available through the Google Domains Site.

"Third Party Services" means additional services provided by third parties, including services that register TLDs for which Google LLC is not an accredited registrar, and services that provide private or proxy registration.

"TLD" means a top-level domain of the Internet domain system.

"URL Terms" means any of the terms set forth in the URLs listed in this Agreement.

"WHOIS" means the public display or dissemination of Registration Information by Google under ICANN requirements and consensus policies.