US student bought the Google.com ownership for $12 and rewarded cash

Sanmay Ved who is an MBA student at a US college bought the right to control Google.com domain on 29 September.

Mr Ved said in his post on the LinkedIn website that he was learning Google Domains interface, and found Google.com was available for purchasing only $12(£8) per year on it’s website-buying service.

He used a credit card to pay the fee and got emails saying the purchase was completed and the Google.com ownership was granted to him.

However, the message was followed by an order cancellation email from Google Domains and his payment was refunded, according to Mr Ved’s post.

He reported the incident to Google Security. Google has acknowledged it, and investigated into the case.

On 8 October, Google contacted Mr Ved offering cash reward for revealing it’s oversight in the domain buying system, but he refused to take the reward saying it was not for money. Instead, he asked Google to donate the money to the Art of Living India Foundation. Google replied him showing their understanding and will donate the reward to charity.

Google declined to comment on this incident.