Meet the man who bought Google.com for ₹800 | HT Tech

Meet the man who bought Google.com for 800

Google.com is probably one of the most expensive (if not THE most expensive) domains names in the world. But Sanmay Ved, an ex-Google employee based in Kutch, was able to buy it for just 800 earlier this week. Unfortunately, he owned it for just a minute. Here’s how the story unfolded.

By: HT CORRESPONDENT
| Updated on: Oct 02 2015, 17:23 IST
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Sanmay Ved
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Sanmay Ved

Google.com is probably one of the most expensive (if not THE most expensive) domains names in the world. But Sanmay Ved, an ex-Google employee based in Kutch, was able to buy it for just 800 earlier this week. Unfortunately, he owned it for just a minute. Here's how the story unfolded.

Ved was browsing around Google Domains, Google's domain registration product, when he found, by chance, that Google.com was available to buy for just $12. Naturally, he clicked through, and was able to add it to his cart and buy it.

"I was hoping I would get an error at sometime saying transaction did not go through, but I was able to complete purchase, and my credit card was actually charged!" wrote Ved on his LinkedIn blog.

He added: "Additionally, my Google Search Console (aka Google Webmaster Tools) was auto-updated with webmaster related messages for the Google.com domain which actually means ownership was transferred to me."

Unfortunately, his elation lasted for all of 60 seconds, since he immediately got an email from Google Domains about the cancellation of his purchase. Google was able to do this instantly, since the company owns Google Domains, unlike Microsoft, which wasn't able to get back Hotmail.com instantly when something similar happened in 2003.

Ved is currently an MBA student at Babson College, outside of Boston, but he previously worked for Google from 2007 to 2012 according to his LinkedIn profile.

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First Published Date: 02 Oct, 15:34 IST
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