A man ended up buying Google's domain name but eventually agreed to part ways with it on one condition.
What if you saw the domain name 'Google.com' on sale for a mere $12? First, you'd probably think it was some kind of scam, second, you'd be tempted to buy it, and third, well, you'd definitely go ahead and buy it, wouldn't you? Dollar signs flashing before many of our eyes.
However, that didn't quite turn out to be exactly the case when Sanmay Ved stumbled across the domain name for sale.
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On September 29, 2015, 'a strange thing happened' to Ved.
He was 'learning more about Google Domains interface' and typed in 'google.com' only to find to his 'surprise' that 'Google.com was showing as available'.
In a post to LinkedIn, Ved explained he 'clicked the add to cart icon beside the domain (which should not appear if the domain is not available for sale)'.
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"The domain actually got added to my cart as seen by the green check-box, and the domain appeared in my cart," he continued.
To his shock, Ved was 'able to complete the purchase' and his 'credit card was actually charged,' leading him to receive two emails.
"One from [email protected], and one from [email protected], which is not the norm when you book domains via Google Domains as I have booked new, previously un-registered domains before, and I have never received emails from the above aliases on booking the domains," he continued.
"I will not share the contents of the emails here given they relate to the Google.com domain. The domain also successfully appeared in my Google Domains order history."
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Alongside the credit card charge and emails, Ved's Google Search Console was 'auto-updated with webmaster related messages for the Google.com domain which actually means ownership was transferred to' him.
Ved also started receiving notifications for websites powered by Google Sites , explaining this 'makes sense given that websites powered by Google Sites rest on the master domain Google.com)'.
He resolved: "Quite clearly, ownership had been granted to me. Order was successful."
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And as you can imagine, the team behind Google wasn't very happy about it.
After making the purchase, Ved then received a 'cancellation email from Google Domains'.
"Google could do this given the registration service used by me (aka Google Domains) belonged to Google," he explains.
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As a 'loyal Googler and Xoogler' having 'reported several vulnerabilities in the past which had gone unnoticed,' Ven reported the incident to Google Security.
Google then 'reverted, acknowledged the incident' and set about investigating how on earth - or rather, the internet - it had all happened.
Ultimately, Google then offered Ven a cash reward - 'in a very Googley way' he adds, however, he 'told them it was never about money'.
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Rather than denying the company its domain name back, Ven simply asked 'the money be donated to charity to the Art of Living India Foundation'.
Google later doubled the money given it was going to charity and the cash helped fund the Art of Living's education program which runs 404 free schools across 18 states of India, providing free education to more than 39,200 children in the slum, tribal and rural belts where child labor and poverty are widespread' and nurturing children to feel complete in mind, body and spirit.
What a story.
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UNILAD has contacted Google for comment.
Topics: Charity, Google, Money, Technology, World News
Poppy Bilderbeck