Early in the morning of 29 September, Sanmay Ved used the Google Domains interface, a tool for searching for unused web addresses and buying them to buy Google.com.

All of Google's other addresses were listed as unavailable, but the regular .com address, the most-visited website in the world, was available for Ved to buy.

He was told it would cost just $12 and for a laugh he continued with the order.

Within moments, Ved's inbox and Google Webmaster Tools (also known as Search Console) were flooded with messages confirming his ownership. Some emails contained sensitive information that should only be known by the owner of Google.

Ved posted in LinkedIn that the scary part was he had access to the webmaster controls for a minute.

A minute later, he received an order cancellation email from Google Domains. Because Google owns this service, it can still control purchases made through it and revoke them when needed.

At this point, it is unclear how Google to lose ownership of the domain Google.com. It is possible that Google forgot to renew ownership of its address using its own domain service, but it might have been a bug.