Google Sites

Not to be confused with Google Domains.

Google Sites is a structured wiki and web page creation tool included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google. The service includes Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drawings, Google Forms, and Google Keep. Google Sites is only available on the web.

Google Sites

Screenshot of the editing mode in the New Google Sites.
Developer(s)	Google
Initial release	February 28, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-02-28)
Platform	Web
Type	Website creation Collaborative software
Website	sites.google.com/new (New version) sites.google.com/site (Classic)

History

Google Sites started out as JotSpot, the name and sole product of a software company that offered enterprise social software.^{[citation needed]} It was targeted mainly at small-sized and medium-sized businesses. The company was founded by Joe Kraus and Graham Spencer, co-founders of Excite.

In February 2006, JotSpot was named part of Business 2.0, "Next Net 25",^[1] and in May 2006, it was honored as one of InfoWorld's "15 Start-ups to Watch".^[2] In October 2006, JotSpot was acquired by Google.^[3] Google announced a prolonged data transition of webpages created using Google Page Creator (also known as "Google Pages") to Google Sites servers in 2007. On February 28, 2008, Google Sites was unveiled using the JotSpot technology.^[4] The service was free, but users needed a domain name, which Google offered for $10. However, as of May 21, 2008, Google Sites became available for free, separately from Google Apps, and without the need for a domain.^[5]

In June 2016, Google introduced a complete rebuild of the Google Sites platform, named the New Google Sites,^[6][7] along with transition schedule from Classic Google Sites.^[8] The new Google Sites does not use JotSpot technology.

In August 2020, the new Google Sites became the default option for website creation, while in November 2021, all websites made with classic Google Sites were archived.^[9]

Censorship

Following a Turkish regional court ruling in 2009, all pages hosted on Google Sites were blocked in Turkey after it was alleged that one of the pages contained an insult of Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled the blockage a breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (Yildirim v Turkey, 2012).^[10] The blockage was lifted in 2014.^[11]

References

1. Schonfeld, Eric (February 28, 2008). "CNN's – The Webtop". con Mindy con mine.com. Retrieved February 28, 2008.
2. Gruman, Galen (May 15, 2006). "JotSpot delivers enterprise wikis and mashups". InfoWorld. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
3. Spot on – Google Blog, November 1, 2006
4. Auchard, Eric (February 28, 2008). "Google offers team Web site publishing service". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2008.
5. "Google Sites Help Group". May 22, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
6. Lardinois, Frederic. "Google's redesigned Google Sites goes live". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
7. "Google Apps for Work – Email, Collaboration Tools And More". apps.google.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
8. "An update on the classic Google Sites deprecation timeline". G Suite Updates Blog. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
9. "Convert your classic Sites to new Sites - Sites Help". Google Sites Help. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
10. 1 Crown Office Row (January 16, 2013). "Turkish block on Google site breached Article 10 rights, rules Strasbourg". UK Human Rights Blog. Retrieved June 15, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
11. "Google Transparency Report – Turkey, Google Sites". Retrieved October 4, 2013.