@build_in_public: This guy actually bought google.com - for five seconds. It was the middle of the night, and he was messing around with the Google Domains interface, just testing things out. He typed in google.com, and to his shock, it showed as available for $12 a year. He clicked “Add to cart.” And it actually worked. He says, “The domain got added to my cart. I thought I’d hit an error, but I didn’t. I proceeded to checkout, completed the purchase, and my credit card was charged.” Just like that, he owned google.com. Even Google Search Console updated automatically, confirming that he was now the owner. He started receiving messages for sites powered by google.com - including private Google Sites - because he technically owned the root domain. “Quite clearly, ownership had been granted to me. The order was successful.” But the moment didn’t last. Shortly after, he received an email from Google Domains canceling the order. Since Google Domains is owned by Google, they had full control to revoke the transaction. “We were not able to process the domains you ordered. The following domains from your order were canceled: google.com.” Still, the fact that the charge went through meant the transaction was real - even if just for a few seconds. He got a refund. And when he searched again, google.com was back to being unavailable. Did Google miss it? Not at all. Google Security reached out to him. They even offered a reward in what he called “a very Googley way” - though he didn’t say what it was. Later, Google revealed it themselves: $6,006.13 If you squint closely, that number spells out: GOOGLE. Wild. #searchengineoptimization #digitalmarketing #startups #technews

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Saturday 12 July 2025 23:37:47 GMT