Anyone can make mistakes (be it in the virtual world, or the real world)- even the big guys. Here in this article, you’ll get to read a story of how Google Lost its domain name for a minute and paid a big price for it. More importantly, you’ll discover big lessons to learn from it whether you’re a website owner and/or business owner.

The man who bought Google for a minute
In 2015, a young man named Sanmay Ved who worked for Google was up late and playing with Google Domains ( Google website buying service) when he noticed Google.com’s domain name was available. He at first thought it was a bug and tried to check out the domain seeing if he could buy it and to his surprise, it worked!

He bought one of the most highly-sought domain names just for $12!
Did you Know?
“Sanmay Ved was described as the man who owned Google for just one minute.”
– TuhamWorld’s Blog
How Google Retrieved the Domain Name Back
Although it didn’t take quite long before the matter was resolved. Google offered to pay Sanmay Ved $6,006.13 ( which is a numerical value of Google) but when Sanmay decided to donate the money to charity, Google doubled the amount. You can read the full story here on CNN Business.
HOW GOOGLE LOST ITS DOMAIN NAME (A LESSON FOR ALL WEBSITE OWNERS)
1. In Business, sometimes the little things can really matter
On average, humans take roughly 20,000 breaths per day yet the majority of us never really stop to think about it. The only set of people who thinks about it is the people who find it hard to breathe the “correct” number of breathing in a day. The same thing applies to your business website too.
Sometimes the little things you neglect can have a huge negative impact on your business. Since you can’t know everything all, the best thing is to TAKE NOTE of those LITTLE THINGS that can cause a BIG SPARK.
2. Endeavor To RENEW your domain name (On TIME)
Your domain name represents your business name on the Web. This is why the bigger your business grows, the more you should be mindful of your business name on the web (that is; your domain name). Although Google’s domain being available at that moment could be a bug but it might also be possible that Google failed to renew it on time hence the availability.
To prevent this from time, you can take note of the time you register your domain name and ensure to check the email you used for the registration so as to be informed on time when the renewal period is close by. You can also decide to put your domain name on Autorenewal mode.
3. Take Advantage of Domain Management Solutions
A Domain name is your first step to taking your brand presence online and also – your first line of defense. Instead of you having to figure it all by yourself, you can take advantage of domain management solutions that would help you protect your domain name – both in terms of security, renewal, domain watch, SSL Certificate Management, and etc.
One of the great advantages of having website care and domain name care plans is that; you do not need to worry about when, where, and how to renew your domain name as it is automatically handled by a professional.
4. Register with a Reputable DOmain Registrar company
I would suggest if you’re going to buy a domain name yourself, you should consider making deep research about the Domain Registrar Company you’re planning to use. I even recommend you let a professional make the choice for you so he or she can be able to help in case you had issues with your domain name in the nearest future.
Having your domain name registered with the wrong company can affect your domain name ranking, inconsistency in pricing, or some other who-knows-what issues. When it comes to domain names, I recommend Namecheap or Bluehost as they’ve been around for a while and have been used by TuhamWorld CC for clients’ projects too.
Finally..
Your domain name as earlier mentioned is your brand name on the internet. It is the first thing to get when starting online in building your website and your first line of defense in case something goes wrong. This is why it is extremely important you keep a close look at your domain name.
Got any questions to ask about what a domain name is, or related to this article? Feel free to leave a comment.
Recommended Articles From the WEB
- 5 Quick Ways To Promote a New Website Launch (by Tunde Sanusi)
- How I Ended Up Purchasing Google.com Domain Name (by Sanmay Ved)
- Website Design Checklist for Clients (Apart from Budget)
- Website and Domain Name Care Plans To Protect your Investment