Google Argentina’s domain name, google.com.ar, was bought by a 30-year-old man for only £2 (Rs 205) last Wednesday, according a report by BBC. Google Argentina told the BBC the domain was acquired by someone else for a short while but it regained its control quickly. 

A man named Nicolas Kurona managed to buy the domain. He told the BBC, “I never imagined that it was going to allow me to buy it”. It began when Kurona was at his desk, designing a website for a client, and started receiving messages on WhatsApp that Google was down. 

“I entered www.google.com.ar into my browser and it didn’t work”, said Kurona. “I thought something strange was happening”. That was when he thought of going on to the Network Information Center Argentina (NIC), the organisation responsible for controlling the .ar domains. When he searched for Google, Argentina’s Google domain popped up as available for purchase. 

In spite of Kurona thinking that it would not work, he followed steps to purchase the domain.  “Followed the steps, and then I received an email with the purchase invoice”, he said. “I was frozen”, he said when he received the acknowledgment that the domain was acquired for 270 pesos, after sharing the NIC invoice with BBC.

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Kurona, 30, went ahead and tapped www.google.com.ar into his search bar, and it showed, “My personal data appeared”, he said. “I was frozen looking at the screen. I could not believe what had just happened”. 

The tech giant is investigating how it happened.