Hyderabad: We are halfway through 2025, and technology is just blasting off to another level! From Yahoo Mail to Gmail, Orkut to X (Twitter), Instagram to Google – these apps have become a part of our daily lives. Tech giants are spending billions to keep things safe.
But did you know? Once upon a time, someone actually bought Google.com — and that too for just Rs 1000!
In 2015, Sanmay Ved, a former Google employee from Mandvi, Gujarat, was casually browsing Google Domains around 1:20 a.m. Just for fun, he typed “google.com” — and guess what? It showed up as available!
Thinking it must be a mistake, he clicked “Add to Cart” — and it worked! He checked out, paid $12, and BOOM, he became the owner of Google.com for a brief moment. Ved even started getting access to Google’s webmaster tools!
Of course, Google quickly noticed the blunder. They canceled the sale and took back the domain. But they didn’t leave Ved empty-handed. As a thank-you, Google gave him Rs. 51,000 ($6,006.13) — a number that spells “Google” if you squint!
Ved didn’t keep the money. Instead, he donated the entire amount to the Art of Living Foundation, which runs 404 free schools across India, helping over 39,200 children. Seeing this, Google doubled the donation!
