Google Invests in Cloud Computing

Google has hands in a lot of pies, from maps to email to spreadsheets and now, with Android and OpenSocial, to cellphones and MySpace. But it all relates to one strategy, the Washington Post says. Google wants to make the web so useful that everyone does everything online. In this “cloud computing” paradigm, laptops and cellphones are just gateways to an ever-present database.

Consumers get constant access to all their documents from the deal. For Google, the cloud provides more and more opportunities to observe surfers’ activities and send them tailored ads. “Google is trying to make itself into a ubiquitous brand where it's everywhere on the Web,” said one analyst. “Increasingly it could be seen as infringing upon [consumers’] lives in some way.” (More Google stories.)