Google buys .app web domain for $25m
Google has purchased the website domain .app in an auction held by the organisation which oversees the running of the net.
The firm's winning bid for $25,001,000 (£16,234,000) is believed to be the highest so far.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) is rolling out new customised web names and auctioning them off.
Other web address endings sold so far include .baby, .tech, .salon and .VIP.
The suffixes are known as generic Top Level Domains (gTLD).
In its bid application, Google-owned company Charleston Road Registry Inc says its plan is that the domain will be used by developers of apps.
"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 internet users that .app websites are indeed related to applications and application developers," the firm writes.
"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."
The ending .baby was bought by pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson, which makes a range of baby products, for just over $3m.
A firm called Dot Tech LLC bought .tech for $6,760,000.
All funds acquired through auction will be held by the Icann board and used "through consultation with the community", the organisation said.
Last year, the French wine industry expressed concern over the creation of gTLDs .wine and .vin which it argued could affect existing trade agreements for regional products like champagne.