Already Google are offering Gmail accounts at your own domain (still in beta) so it’s not unfeasible that they would offer free hosting (they already have Google Pages … which is a form of free hosting) at your own domain.
Would it wipe out shared hosting companies? Are we in hosting365 investing in other businesses to hedge our bets against this day?
In short - NO.
Unfortunately shared hosting is very commoditised - hence we offer plans from 3.75 a month - so yes, Google offering FREE versions of those plans would seem tempting. However virtually all customers need some kind of support - and a knowledgebase / FAQ just doesn’t cut it. No business will or should trust their on-line presence to a hosting vendor that does not provide dedicated support resources. And nothing in Google’s other product ranges would suggest that they would offer support - it’s just too costly.
Perhaps my view is naive since I’m in the hosting business, but I don’t fear Google offering free hosting, unless they also offer free, freephone support and email ticketing, 24×7. FREE and MANAGED SERVICES are not two phrases commonly associated with the same product. While we do provide a free blog plan (and support it mind you!), and maybe some day will offer free basic hosting - no business customer will (at least no one who values their web site or email) trust their on-line presence to a company they can’t get help from - no matter how reliable the uptime may be - the support required for individual web site issues is critical.

Tags: hosting365, googlehosting, google, hosting, sharedhosting, freehosting, freeblogs