Google to Fork Over $10M for Domain Names

Google.lol? Google has applied to become master of dozens of top-level Internet domains, including .lol, .docs, and .youtube. The total number of domains it has applied for—at $185,000 a pop—comes to more than 50, sources tell Advertising Age. The applications were made to the Internet Corporation for the Assignment of Web Names and Numbers, which is hugely expanding the number of domain endings from the present 28.

ICANN says it has received more than 1,900 applications. In a blog post, Google's "chief Internet evangelist" Vint Cerf says the company is "just beginning to explore this potential source of innovation on the web," and "by opening up more choices for Internet domain names, we hope people will find options for more diverse—and perhaps shorter—signposts in cyberspace." He describes .lol as one of the domains Google thinks has "interesting and creative potential." (More Google stories.)