Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Man who bought Google domain name for $12 gives his 'reward' from the search giant to charity

Sanmay Ved owned the search giant's 'google.com' domain for a few minutes before the company cancelled the sale

Alexander Sehmer
Monday 12 October 2015 08:48 BST
Comments
The domain name 'google.com' was briefly owned by a private individual before the search giant cancelled the sale
The domain name 'google.com' was briefly owned by a private individual before the search giant cancelled the sale (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The man who briefly owned the web address google.com before Google caught up with him has given the money the company paid him for identifying the 'glitch' to charity.

In recognition of his act of generosity, Google doubled the reward.

Sanmay Ved, a former Google employee, purchased the domain name through the company's own Google Domains service in September for just $12 (£7.80).

Google cancelled the sale minutes later.

Writing online, Mr Ved, a self-professed "loyal Googler", said the company had since contacted him and "offered me a $x reward in a very Googley way".

He requested they give the undisclosed amount to the Art of Living India foundation, an Indian educational charity, and said Google doubled the amount as a result.

In an interview with Business Insider, Mr Ved said: "It was never about the money. I also want to set an example that it's people who want to find bugs that it's not always about the money."

Google runs a reward programme that pays out to people who identify vulnerabilities in its online services, with amounts ranging from $100 to $20,000.

The search giant is not the first company to miss an opportunity to renew its domain ownership.

In 2003 Microsoft failed to renew the hotmail.co.uk domain name and the domain was snapped up by a private individual who later returned it to the company.

Best Google's Doodles

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in