Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has won the bid for the .app domains in the auction held by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization that controls the world’s domain names, with $25,001,000 which is the highest one bid ever for any domain to date, BBC News reported today.
There were 13 other companies that applied for the .app domain name such as Amazon.com. 3 of those bidders were willing to pay at least $19.4 million and 2 bidders were running against Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the last round that started at $24.3 million.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has always shown a certain restrain when bidding for domain names and it has only won a handful, but it looks like they went all out for the .app understanding that the other auctions which the company has won are related to its products: .drive, .docs.
In 2012, four years after ICANN decided to expand the number of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) applied for dozens of new TLDs such as: .docs, .android, .free, .fyi, .foo and .app. Other domains that have been sold sin June 2014 include: .tech, .baby and .VIP.
In late 2014, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) bought .buy for $5 million and .spot for $2.2 million, Dot Tech LL paid $6.7 million for .tech and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) purchased .baby for just over $3 million.
“The proposed gTLD will provide application developers with the ability to customize domain and website name application offerings to signal to the general population of internet users that .app websites are indeed related to applications and application developers,” the firm writes. “This specialization makes it clear to internet users that this is the authoritative and designated space where they can find applications and information about developers accessible via differentiated and streamlined web addresses.”
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) proposed the .app domain to be a closed registry for Google and partners only could register names but the Governmental Advisory Committee pressured the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to forbid the closed generics so Google changed its application to allow anyone to register.
All the funds acquired from selling the gTLDs will be held by the ICANN board and it stated that they’ll be used “through consultation with the community”.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has not yet announced the specific plans it has for the .app, but the purchase could provide the company a creative way to promote their apps as the searches move to mobile.
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