Google Buys .app Top-Level Domain for $25 Million

The .app top-level domain is now owned by Google. The search giant bid a whopping $25 million to buy rights to the domain.

Top-level domains are a part of every URL. Some examples are .com, .org and .net. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has been making a host of new top-level domains available. Some of these domains have been auctioned off at a big price. For example, Amazon bought the .buy domain for over $4.5 million. The full list of auctioned domains can be found here (via 9to5Google).

Google's $25 million bid is currently the highest price for any top-level domain. (TLD) This indicates that the company may have big plans for the domain. Google hasn't yet announced whether it will sell .app domains, but it recently announced plans to show sponsored search results in Google Play. The company could use the .app TLD as a monetisation strategy on Google Play.

In a blog post in 2012, Google had indicated its plans to add domains to its portfolio. The post reads, "We decided to submit applications for new TLDs, which generally fall into four categories: Our trademarks, like .google; Domains related to our core business, like .docs; Domains that will improve user experience, such as .youtube, which can increase the ease with which YouTube channels and genres can be identified; [and] Domains we think have interesting and creative potential, such as .lol."

On its reasons behind buying these domains, Google had said, "We're just beginning to explore this potential source of innovation on the Web, and we are curious to see how these proposed new TLDs will fare in the existing TLD environment. By opening up more choices for Internet domain names, we hope people will find options for more diverse-and perhaps shorter-signposts in cyberspace."Google recently unveiled its own domain registration service, currently available only for US-based customers. The price of domains starts at $12 per year and the move shows that Google is pushing deeper into the enterprise market. Google offers many services for the enterprise market, including email, My Business app and Business View.