Google Bestows “Bug Bounty” On Guy Who Successfully Bought And Owned Google.com (For A Few Minutes)

We all know the old saying: ‘Tis better to have owned a major technological giant’s domain name briefly and lost it, than to have never owned a major technological giant’s domain name at all. A guy who successfully purchased Google.com and held onto it for a few minutes was rewarded for his efforts by way of a “bug bounty” from Google.

A U.S. student bought the domain name on Sept. 29, writing about his experience on LinkedIn last month. He spotted a “for sale” sign next to Google.com while poking around on sites on Google’s website-buying service. Interesting, eh?

Due to some kind of oversight, he was able to purchase Google.com and control it for about a minute — and immediately received mails meant for the company’s web administrators — before Google realized what had happened and canceled the transaction.

His $12 was refunded, with Google saying that the purchase was an error because someone else already registered the domain name (but WHO?!?). He’s now updated his story, writing that he received a cash reward for uncovering the bug that allowed him to become the sole owner of Google.com, brief as his reign was. Instead of pocketing the cash, he’s decided to give that reward to an educational foundation in India, reports the BBC, a donation that Google then matched.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist