Google has paid out $25m (£16.2m) in order to secure rights to the .app top-level web domain after it was placed up for auction by ICANN, the organisation that controls the worlds domain names.

In 2008, ICANN decided to expand on the overall number of generic TLDs available to websites, and has been gradually auctioning off the domains since June 2014. Google applied for multiple top-level domains (TLDs) in 2012, including .docs, .android, .free, .foo and .app.

The process of obtaining a TLD is expensive and competitive. Dot Tech LLC spent $6.7m lasy year to secure the .tech domain, while Amazon bought .buy for $5m and .spot for $2.2m in autumn last year.

Googles $25m payout for the .app domain is the highest any company has paid for a single domain so far. It has also bought up .how, .soy and .meme, all of which people can already purchase through its own domain registry, with plan to add .dad, .here, .eat and .new soon.

While Google hasnt announced any specific plans for the .app domain, it would certainly give the search giant a creative way to promote the apps available in its Play Store as search increasingly shifts to mobile.