I don't think it is an A/B test. They just want to dominate the web in the short and long term. The majority of their efforts support this hypothesis. To own t

I don't think it is an A/B test. They just want to dominate the web in the short and long term. The majority of their efforts support this hypothesis. To own the web in the current day and age, they would want to: - Own the browser (so they started the Chrome project) - Own the OS (preferably using Chrome, to reduce complexity/overhead/duplication) - Own the applications/be what people use (Google apps, App Engine, Search, Gmail, ...) - Own the data (Search, Maps/Street View/Google Earth, Google Base, Google Apps, Google Groups, Gmail, ...) - Make business dependent on Google (Search, Ads, ...) To own the web in the future they would want to: - Embrace web to transition world from client-centric/thick-client to fully browser-based that just happens to run on their browser. (I doubt they will make the browser pluggable, using the excuse that this would be way too complex.) Android does not further this purpose as much as Chrome OS. Android was originally supposed to be a temporary solution to the mobile OS (like iOS, Windows Mobile, etc.). However, when it took off (exceeding their expectations, I imagine) they had to temporarily deprioritize Chrome OS. But, eventually mobile devices could run Chrome OS, at which point they'd ditch Android. I think Apple is making a similar play now, heading towards the eventual "merge" of iOS and OS X, using the iOS model of controlling the apps sold via the app store in OS X until mobile devices are powerful enough to run (the future version of) OS X (after it has been redesigned to better support usage on a smaller screen without mouse, etc.). Except that Apple won't (in this century) ditch the significant investment in Cocoa for a browser-based OS.