In a rare incident from 2015, Sanmay Ved, a former Google employee from Mandvi, Gujarat, for a brief period became the owner of the domain ”Google.com”. He bought it for just $12 (approximately Rs 800) through Google’s domain registration platform, Google Domains. This happened when he was exploring the platform around 1:20 AM Eastern Time on September 29. Ved was shocked to know that the domain was listed as available. He moved further to add to his cart, completed the transaction, and also received confirmation emails that included the successful transfer of ownership. His Google Search Console was also updated with webmaster messages for the domain, further confirming the purchase.
Ownership for a brief period
Ved’s ownership was short-lived as within a minute, Google realised the error and cancelled the transaction and refunded his amount. As Google manages its own domain service, it quickly rectified the mistake. Recollecting the incident, Ved stated, ”I was hoping I would get an error at some time saying transaction did not go through, but I was able to complete purchase, and my credit card was actually charged!”
Reward for reporting the error to Google
Acknowledging the security failure, Google proposed a reward of $6,006.13, a figure that numerically is similar to the word Google. Upon knowing that Ved planned to donate the amount to charity, Google doubled the amount, resulting in a $12,000 donation to the Art of Living India Foundation. This charitable organisation provides free education for children and manages 404 free schools across India. Ved mentioned, ”I don’t care about the money. It was never about the money.” He believes that ”schools nurture the complete child, including body, mind, and spirit.”