TL;DR
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Google is giving the hat tip of approval to Web3, by adding ENS to their search engine.
Here’s what that means:
ENS stands for the ‘Ethereum Name Service,’ a protocol that allows you to create a custom wallet address on Ethereum.
Aka: buy a custom domain name on Ethereum (e.g. web3dailyisverycool.eth).
As of May 2023, Google has been adding ENS to its search engine on the downlow (think: no press, PR or media about the integration).
Which doesn’t seem like a huge deal, but it is.
Now, when you search an Ethereum domain name address on Google, the wallet’s balance will be shown right there in the search result.
…ok, nothing groundbreaking at first glance.
But the big thing here is, Google is making the balance information attached to an Ethereum domain searchable.
…Google — which still ‘the gateway to the internet’ for most people — is essentially incentivizing folks to get creative and attach more dynamic forms of data to their Ethereum addresses.
Again, big whoop, who cares?
But remember what early web domains used to be used for? You’d buy yourself a .com address, just to list your name and email address in plain text.
On the surface — total snooze fest! But fast forward to today and look at what kind of information/experiences can be attached to a domain!
You can watch movies and TV shows…buy clothes, groceries, homes, plane tickets…listen to books, podcasts, etc.
A whole lot can be built around a domain — and now, developers and users alike are being incentivized to start building on Web3 domains.
Very cool!