I don't know if Google does this, but because they control both endpoints (cache server and load balancer) of the longest section of the path they could acceler

I don't know if Google does this, but because they control both endpoints (cache server and load balancer) of the longest section of the path they could accelerate it by replace HTTP(S) there with something like CloudFlare's Railgun. [1] Since Railgun is only available at CloudFlare plans starting at $200/month, this could make the Google offering attractive for certain customers. In any case, it is hard to beat free for most sites with moderate needs. [1] https://www.cloudflare.com/railgun/ https://www.cloudflare.com/railgun/