Google is now an ICANN-accredited registrar of domain names, providing it with yet another potential line of expansion and further fueling speculation that it will soon expand into the web hosting industry.

The hugely popular and resourceful search engine is approved to sell names in seven top-level domains (TLDs) including .com, .net, .org, .biz, info, .name and .pro.

Domain registration, combined with the already operating a free blogger service, and its huge user base would be a potentially lucrative market for domain names and Web hosting. Additionally its other beta services such as gmail and Google News allow for even further expanasion verticals.

Over the last year, significant reductions in domain name prices have been spawned by the use of domains as marketing tools to attract new web hosting customers. Industry leaders – Hostway, Yahoo!, and Interland , as well as most medium and small web hosting companies,– are selling domains as low as $3.95, but none are accredited registrars. Instead, they work as resellers for firms such as Go Daddy.

With prices as low as they are, domains names have, in most cases, become a losing financial situation, but are seen as a cheap and effective way to attract hosting customers. The low loss on a domain of a couple dollars, versus the pay-per-click cost of buying the keyword "web hosting" on Google Adwords or Overture, which can run three to four times higher.

While competing with their customers may never have crossed Google's mind, the simple economics of Web hosting will necessitate a different approach. Google could easily give up the number 1 advertising slot to market a Google Web hosting package. Additionally, Google could simply create a new ad unit that rests at the very top of the page, preserving all existing advertising slots. Adding thousands of new hosting accounts each month will quickly generate millions in recurring revenues for Google. Yahoo! did this a few years ago with astounding success.

A great hosting company needs to stave off DDOS attacks, worms, viruses, and a litany of other hacker-induced mayhem. It also needs super-fat redundant pipes to handle all the traffic, and the additional mandatory goodies like physical security, fire suppression, and backup generators to maintain 100% uptime. Google has been protecting a premier Web property from hackers for the last 6 years. With their experience in data centers and knowledge of redundant connectivity, the financials already exist.

Gmail! Okay, so they messed up a little with the whole privacy/big brother issue. They'll get past that. The point is that Google knows email. Even with the throttled launch and invitation-only system of Gmail, they probably already have more email customers that most hosting companies. This gives Google 2 more clear reasons to get into hosting: they can handle email as well as anybody, and they have a huge email list to which they can market their service. Many customers register a domain name and set up a hosting account mainly to have the email address that they want, such as you@yourcompany.com. The ability to process and manage a high volume of email while excluding spam, viruses and other security exploits is a mandatory skill set for hosting.

Why Will Google's Web Hosting Product Reign Supreme?
*According to a article on Sitepoint
It's pretty much a given that Google will launch a Web hosting product at some point. But how will they crush Yahoo! (and every other Web host out there)? Here are a few points on which Google trumps its nearest rival...

- Google brand versus Yahoo! brand. Winner = Google. Google is regarded as cutting-edge and is closely watched. Yahoo! has repositioned itself within the market and is not the tech leader is used to be.
- Google's execution versus Yahoo's execution. Winner = Google. Google's awesome tactic of launching full blown, fully developed products as 'beta' tests overcomes the pressure and scrutiny of conventional product launches. Plus, they're just really good at executing Web-based technology.
- Google's reach versus Yahoo's reach. Winner = Google. By some accounts Google now accepts 70% of all Web searches each day. Unless it stumbles, Google will keep growing at Yahoo's! (and everybody else's) expense.
- Google's synergies versus Yahoo's! synergies. Winner = Google. Google bought Blogger, and it already knows and understands how to attract, market to, and partner with content builders. Google's AdWords and AdSense products are already in use by well over 150,000 individual Websites. Google has made a science out of knowing which markets are searching for what, and where they go to find it.