Google Drive allows developers to host basic HTML, Javascript and CSS sites
Google is extending the functions of its cloud storage service Google Drive by improving third-party app integration, and allowing developers to host basic HTML, Javascript and CSS sites.
While Google Drive already has about a hundred web apps that use the Drive SDK, what’s new is the ability to open files in third-party apps directly from the Drive user interface, which will likely increase adoption and development of apps connected to Drive.
Google Drive has also added the ability to host and share HTML, JS and CSS files, so developers can store files so “they are safe, available from anywhere, and easy to work on with others.” The feature allows users to preview an HTML file stored in Google Drive, and produces a URL that can be used by anyone to access the page, according to a report by the Register.
The hosting feature is very basic, and would not come even close to replacing a web host. It is more along the lines of third-party services like Pancake.io or DropPages that allow hosting of HTML files in Dropbox accounts.
There are a number of free services to get pages online quickly, easily, and free, and while they don’t offer the features that even a basic web hosting account would, it is giving developers another option. While these types of file hosting services usually offer clunky URLs, someone has already launched GDrives, a free tool that gives a tiny URL that shows visitors an alias, and supports deep linking.
As Google Drive expands features and improves integration, it is making it easier for users to do contain their workflow in Google services. The apps offer everything from photo editing, slideshows, visual presentations, video editing, UI wireframes, and document signing and faxing. Users can edit code with several different apps, including ShiftEdit.
As attendees of Parallels Summit this week gathered, SMBs are increasingly adopting web apps. According to Parallels SMB Cloud Insight report, business apps showed strong growth in the developed world this year, and three quarters of SMBs bought their current web apps bundled with their website at check out.
Talk back: Do you perceive the new Google Drive features as a threat to your web hosting business? Do you think you are at risk of losing web developer clients to services like this? Let us know in a comment.
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson is the Editor in Chief of the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
