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Looks like Google is protecting against IP attacks. DNS is not involved other than using Google's DNS servers to look up the IP. If the attackers attack Google's DNS they will probably fail since Google has a very wide footprint and can route DNS requests to servers that are not overloaded.

That said the point remains that Google gets to decide whose IP address is protected and whose is not. So even if I were denied a domain by CHICANN and used IP only, I could still be out of luck. This was a big DDOS attack and those are going to be relatively rare. And Krebs points out there are some solutions to the botnet problem behind the attack. But that doesn't preclude some nation from doing what his enemy did.

In other words, I think while Kreb's point that some average Joe botnet operator now has a lot of power is valid, I think the nation states like China will always have more power.

However, one thing that Krebs may be overlooking or is not commenting on here is that likely 100% of the cheap crap, specifically

There is every indication that this attack was launched with the help of a botnet that has enslaved a large number of hacked so-called “Internet of Things,” (IoT) devices — mainly routers, IP cameras and digital video recorders (DVRs) that are exposed to the Internet and protected with weak or hard-coded passwords. Most of these devices are available for sale on retail store shelves for less than $100, or — in the case of routers — are shipped by ISPs to their customers.

is made in China. China is literally building an army of insecure devices waiting to enslaved and used by people like Krebs's enemy. China might just not care and might just want to corner the market like any other. And certainly the ISPs that hand this crap out deserve some blame. But it is quite plausible for China to enslave those junk devices themselves. The fact that other people in other countries do that already gives them a lot of cover.