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Google has shelled out a mega $25 million to purchase the .app website domain.
The search engine giant managed to scoop the prize domain at an auction held by net authority Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
ICANN is currently in the process of rolling out brand new web domains, many of which are bringing in big cash at auction.
Also amongst the lot were .baby, .tech, .salon, and .VIP, all of which have now been sold.
Google hopes that its app developers will be able to make use of the new generic Top Level Domains (gTLD), the official name for the web address suffix.
Google-owned Charleston Road Registry Inc., writing in the bid application, said: “The proposed gTLD will provide application developers with the ability to customise domain and website name application offerings to signal to the general population of internt users that .app websites are indeed related to applications and application developers.”
“This specialisation 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.”
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This isn’t the first top-level domain Google has purchased, with its other acquisitions including .soy, .minna, .foo, and .how.
It’s not clear when we’ll actually begin to see .app websites appearing on the web, but it’s a welcome addition to our browser’s otherwise spiritless address bar.
ICANN also revealed that .tech was bout by Dot Tech LLC for $6.76 million , and .baby was picked up, unsurprisingly, by Johnson & Johnson for just north of $3 million.