Summary
TLDR: Google Search now displays on-chain information about Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains, surprising developers. This update has developers questioning the future utility of ENS domains, as they wonder if Google will display affiliated URLs in search results. ENS has been expanding integrations since 2017 and can be implemented on layer-2 networks, but this will require protocol changes. Free subdomains offered by projects like Uniswap are not yet resolvable by Google.
Key Points
1. Searching for an Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain in Google now yields on-chain information about its holdings.
2. The new functionality in Google Search appears to have been introduced without a formal announcement, and without the knowledge or input from ENS developers, who expressed surprise on X Thursday.
3. The search giant has displayed information about Ethereum addresses using their 40 character hexadecimal string since May 2023, but the addition of easily readable ENS addresses appears to be new.