4 ms·

Cables aren't that expensive to lay down when you have upwards of $40bn in the bank.

• adventured 12y ago
  $60 billion. Google could lay down a semi-global fiber network of their own if they wanted to.
  • mschuster91 12y ago
    I guess this is why Google has been shifting in lots of... well, non-Search product areas, in the last few years. Advertising in internet is bound to fall due to ad blockers, it's just sensible for them to spread their knowledge and ubiquity... so if Adword profits vanish, they'll still be a profitable ISP/megacorp.
    • ihsw 12y ago
      Bound to fall? I doubt it. I wouldn't be surprised if some Google people came to the conclusion that ad-blocking is prevalent in affluent demographics (namely people with non-trivial technical skill) whereas 'the next 1 billion' coming online are predominantly simply not installing ad-blocking software (browser extensions/plug-ins, desktop applications, etc). It stands to reason that this would certainly drive Google's interest in being on the forefront of 'the next 1 billion' coming online.
      • mschuster91 12y ago
        The "next 1 billion" will have low-powered devices, mostly cellphones - not able to display any advertising bigger than an Adword. Not to mention that neither Africa nor India has an advertising market remotely comparable to US/EU (especially, the advertising budgets of the companies).