Google to phase out country-specific domain names for google.com

Google announced that country-level domain names for its Google search page, such as google.ng or google.com.br, will be phased out so that people worldwide can use google.com on a standard basis.

The older country-level domains are called country code top-level domain names (ccTLD). However, Google noted that from 2017, it allowed people to enjoy a local search experience regardless of whether they were using google.com or a geo-specific alternative.

“So we’ll begin redirecting traffic from these ccTLDs to google.com to streamline people’s experience on Search. This change will be rolled out gradually over the coming months, and you may be prompted to re-enter some of your Search preferences in the process,” said Google in its blog post.

The search giant stressed that the Google Search offering itself would not be affected by the update, and that Google would still be in compliance with various jurisdictional laws.