Just in case it wasn't abundantly obvious before, Google has made a couple of moves in the last few days that make it certain the search giant is now going after Microsoft. Yesterday it announced the
acquisition of Upstartle, the company that developed the free Web-based word processor Writely. A few days earlier, Google "accidentally" posted notes about plans to create an online storage system
called Gdrive that would let users store all the information from their computers online for free. Imagine if Google had access to everything you've ever used your computer for? Then imagine the
uproar surrounding future government subpoenas? Nevertheless, Google certainly plans to marry these two services with other offerings like Gmail, Google Chat, and Blogspot to give users a free place
to work and store data online. Should the company tie these things together, it would be able to offer a very compelling alternative to Microsoft's Office line, which is currently worth $11.5 billion.
It's interesting to see that while Microsoft takes aim at search, obviously Google's core business, Google is counterstriking by going after one of Microsoft's software-based business. Microsoft is in
the process of migrating its software offerings to the Web, but online advertising is only part of that business strategy, with premium subscription sales making up another big portion. We have to
assume that Google would try to keep its office and storage services free, or at least very low-cost.
Read the whole story at Forbes.com »
