Google working on alternate Internet, sez insider

So it seems that Google may actually have a plan for world domination after all, involving cheap PCs that connect exclusively to a private "Googlenet." The London Times is reporting that "a leading content provider" has been quoted as saying "We are in discussions with Google to provide content for their alternative Internet service, to be distributed through their Google Cube product. As far as I'm aware they have been conducting negotiations with a number of other players in our marketplace to provide quality content to their users." Whoa. If this information turns out to be accurate, it would help explain Google's MO in buying up so much "dark fiber," and may also jibe with the L.A. Times' January prediction (denied by the G) of a Wal-Mart-bound Google PC. We'll continue to bring you updates on this juicy story as it develops -- unless we jump ship and head over to Googlenet, in which case please visit us at www.engadget.goog.

[Tutor @ Feb 3rd 2006 8:16PM]

Uh, didn't AOL pretty much give up on this recently?

[Dom @ Feb 3rd 2006 8:25PM]

If Google made the so-called Gnet, it'w wouldn't be www.engadget.goog, because you wouldn't be on the WWW!

[Revrant @ Feb 3rd 2006 8:40PM]

The point is to open up their own unique service...and that's why they're buying up dark fiber, I continue to ponder how this works with their whole "wireless" thing, it seems like the Goog is aiming at people who normally wouldn't surf the net.

[Desides @ Feb 3rd 2006 8:46PM]

"2. If Google made the so-called Gnet, it'w wouldn't be www.engadget.goog, because you wouldn't be on the WWW!"

Uh, don't you mean goog.engadget.com? Subdomains would be goog.subdomain.engadget.com.

More seriously: am I the only person who really wishes these rumors would go away? Google OS, Googlenet, Google this, Google that, argh. At least Apple produces substantive, useful products.

[Crazyglues @ Feb 3rd 2006 8:57PM]

It would probably be GG.engadget.goog for gobal Gigabit - Man that sucka is going to be sweet... and so fast...

[Alex @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:02PM]

Well, Google did hire Vint Cerf (co-designer with Robert Kahn of TCP/IP protocols and basic architecture of the Internet) so maybe he is going to lead the creation of a new Internet, fixing the stuff he didn't like with his first one.

[Virtuous @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:05PM]

Google could turn to their own network if cable and DSL companies begin forcing people to pay extra to access Google services.

[Christian @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:12PM]

Thats very... Interesting

[Torontoguy @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:24PM]

I think this is an absolutely fantastic idea. It would be great if Google had its own Internet...so long as that meant it was no longer on THIS Internet.

[SUMER @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:26PM]

Google has failed with video search stuff, they also faiiled misreably with froogle stuff, i honestly have no idea why they are being valued at 120billion. I guess the only thing that worked out for them is, they made themselves look like a nice honest company so it got alot of advertisers attention.

I think google simply got lucky, they are a good company however not as good as everyone makes out to be.

Google obviously knows nothing other than to organize data that already exists on the web.

I do not think they will dominate, i actually expect to see them fade away like infoseek, and lycous and altavista.

Why? simple.

Google is anti republican, which means government is going to tax the ***** out of them for the next several years, ( aka taking away alot of money from them ) as they recently did which resulted in a huge decline in their company's stock value.

Google also has no experience with hardware, unless google buys out apple, they have nothing to brag about. And it is likely their next move will be as stupid as froogle and video search and imagesearch.

People are just dumb, the only reason why they use google is because it loads faster and doesnt have annoying adds, there is nothing more to google than that.

They rank web sites based on popularity and filter out bad web sites.

GOOGLE founders are just 2 young programming nerds, they don't know a whole alot about business. And when you are young and get so rich so easily , you will become fat and lazy, its just law of nature..


Oh by the way, if you are wondering who will dominate.. easy.. THINK IPOD, THINK STEVE JOBS, THINK APPLE, THINK I WEB THINK APPLE SEARCH THINK DIFFERENT. dont think google, google is just nice+hype not nice+quality. Apple is NICE+QUALITY. oh btw, STEVE JOBS is 10000x more experienced than those google nerds ( dont get me wrong i dont hate google i use gmail all the time as well as google news and etc however.. i dont see anything special, any smart person with $5million could catch up with google in a few months of work )..

ok here's the future:

Adobe = will go extinct
Google = will go extinct
Microsoft = will go extinct

Apple = will dominate
Sony = will grow but wont dominate.

Amazon = needs a new co-ceo with a better vision or else they too will go extinct.

Engadget = will go extinct because they attempted to grow to large and it is looking like a mess..

THERE IS A RISE N FALL FOR EVERYTHING, UNLESS YOU ARE RE-RISING FROM A FALL.

Steve Jobs learned his lesson, and he is the one everyone should count on. He is going to dominate the universe.


as soon as apple's search engine comes out, as soon as apple's new iweb programs come out, .. its over for google and adobe and microsoft.

[Michael Bolland @ Oct 17th 2008 3:33AM]

An alternate internet free of advertising and used soley for information and setup and run by the public would be a fantastic idea. However I can't see google's internet being anything other than for business purposes and they are going to need something very special (like providing free radio frequency internet to everyone) to make it work.

[SUMER @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:36PM]

wow i my post just got deleted ( perhaps because i made a negative comment about engadget ) , i guess engadget people think this is china.

[neihrick @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:39PM]

i think they'll probably use the fiber to connect their network, i.e. between there hubs in cities from which people can connect to wirelessly.

[x23 @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:50PM]

"Google is anti republican, which means government is going to tax the ***** out of them for the next several years, ( aka taking away alot of money from them ) as they recently did which resulted in a huge decline in their company's stock value."

i am interested in this vindictive company-specific taxation program the republican government officials utilize. cause you know... it sounds like made up BS.

[lazy @ Feb 3rd 2006 9:51PM]

unhuh, then we'd take their cheap computer and put our own os on it.

[slash @ Feb 3rd 2006 10:03PM]

"Steve Jobs learned his lesson, and he is the one everyone should count on. He is going to dominate the universe."

Well we can tell whos A** you've been kissing...

[Revrant @ Feb 3rd 2006 10:08PM]

4. Ha! Good one, anyone tired of Apple ass-kissery and rumors? Google rumors are a nice change from the constant ass-kissery, at least Google tries to branch out from it's established cash cow.

10. Speaking of ass-kissery, oh golly, that's right, Apple will dominate with non-expanding product lines, continual rehashes of everything from the nineties, and an obtuse view of the consumer: their products treating them as though they had an IQ of room temperature. That's the plan for domination alright, after all, it got them places, right? Sure, they have the iPod, but do you know what the greatest benefit of their new their newer limelight is? People will actually gain enough interest in the Mac, and will finally learn it's not what the fanboys kept creaming about, much the opposite, that, is a pleasure to observe.

[Rob @ Feb 3rd 2006 10:10PM]

just reading it made my head spin... very interesting.

but privatization is against everything the internet stands for... and that's what we're talking about here. And while google continues to boom, it'd be sad to see them go Microsoft.

Still it would be interesting to see how it would play out.

[Sam @ Feb 3rd 2006 10:14PM]

Sumer-

I support Apple just as much as you do, but don't get me wrong I really think you should tone it down a little. No, this isn't China, they did not delete your post. The entire rant is still displayed on my screen as of 7:13 pm Pacific time on Friday.

[mike @ Feb 3rd 2006 11:10PM]

SUMER.. er.. i have an eMac and an iPod..

shut up.. you're making us look really... really... really.. bad.

[Echo_ @ Feb 3rd 2006 11:43PM]

jesus christ

APPLE FANBOYS SHUT THE F UP PLZ

you idiots say google isnt good at doing anything and anyone with 5 mill can do what they do but guess what. yahoo cant, msn cant. looks like your wrong

apple is just living on thei ripods

[OddManOut @ Feb 4th 2006 12:08AM]

"...the only reason why they use google is because it loads faster and doesnt have annoying adds..."

Yep...seems like perfectly sound reasoning to me (but then, I'm still just a lowly PC user...). What more do you want out of an effective search engine ?

Yes, making a search engine 'simple' is probably not a complex task. KEEPING it simple however, probably is. As your service accumulates data you have to add more storage and processing power on the hardware end, which means you will likely need more staff to run and maintain it. Thus you need more money to pay for equipment and support. But most search engines are free, so where do they get money from? ADVERTISING! But that pisses people off and then they stop using your search engine and the sponsers go away and you go under.

Not so simple is it ?

Google must have had SOMETHING special to become so successful(as stated, it could have been a simple tumble of the dice in their favor), but if that something was so simple why HASN't someone else found the same level of success as google before or since ?

All in all I kind of agree with 16, the free flow of information and the lack of expansive tight content controls is what people like about the internet. Having it privately owned would be just like browsing one GIGANTIC webpage and not millions/billions of sepereate independant ones.

But, if this rumor turns out to have a grain of truth to it I rather doubt it will simply be ANOTHER 'INTERNET' as we've come to use the term. While the interent has very BROAD appeal, if Google (or anyone else for that matter) tried to set up a new global network I think it would have to be designed around a target consummer/interest. Enough so that people were willing to pay some kind of subscription to use it.

Cause it's gonna be expensive...

Creating the internet as we know it took the combined telecom resources of the ENTIRE world (albeit for a long time it wasn't exactly a cooperative effort per se, it just kinda fell together a piece at a time). Even with the advances in technology of the last 10 -15 years, for one company to duplicate that feat would be quite an undertaking indeed.

Good thing Al Gore didn't get elected president, if google really is trying to create a new WWW/Internet they will likely need his help :P

[Barry @ Feb 4th 2006 12:11AM]

To #15 you said:
People will actually gain enough interest in the Mac, and will finally learn it's not what the fanboys kept creaming about, much the opposite, that, is a pleasure to observe.

Have you ever actually used a mac. Compared to linux I will admit it is more closed. But if you compare it to windows there is no comparison, especially now that mac is running with intel chips. But given the choice between mac and linux i would go with linux. Windows may stick around but it will never be the best, only a pretty GUI on an unstable foundation.

So #15 think about what you say before you say it next time.

[Joe @ Feb 4th 2006 12:23AM]

My guess is that they are making a home entertainment hub...aka set top box

This "google cube" will be practicly be given away at walmart. And google will try to make money selling IPtv, music, movies, ...etc

[Jordan @ Feb 4th 2006 12:29AM]

SUMER said: "Google is anti republican, which means government is going to tax the ***** out of them for the next several years, ( aka taking away alot of money from them ) as they recently did which resulted in a huge decline in their company's stock value."

I am unsure what in the world you are talking about, but I'm guessing you're young as you obviously haven't taken any Political Science classes. Grab an American Government book and start reading bro, because you went WAY, WAY off the path somewhere.

They fell into a higher tax bracket in Britain because they did not pull in enough revenue there to get a tax break, and that is precisely why their stock dipped that day. Look it up, the info is everywhere.

Slashdot had an article saying that their stock dipped "amid growing fury over censorship and plagiarism." That is obviously Slashdot spin, and isn't what really happened. But that is Slashdot spin, your comment came from another world.

Man I am still SO confused about your comment. I had to re-read the whole thing to see if you meant that as a joke. ???

[Gene @ Feb 4th 2006 12:34AM]

Hmm. Looks like Google gave $71,500 to Democrats, while Apple gave $78,250. Neither gave any to Republicans.
So, why isn't Apple being taxed into bankruptcy as well?

[Sam @ Feb 4th 2006 1:08AM]

Sumer-

I support Apple just as much as you do, but don't get
me wrong I really think you should tone it down a little. No, this
isn't China, they did not delete your post. The entire rant is still
displayed on my screen as of 7:13 pm Pacific time on Friday.

[note: this was supposed to be posted about 3 hours ago.]

[SUMER @ Feb 4th 2006 1:18AM]

i never had an ipod, i just got an imac intel after i watched steve job's macworld video and i was impressed by it, i think steve jobs is a genius.

I also read this page which is about steve jobs
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

[DM @ Feb 4th 2006 1:56AM]

#26 You probably have an ipod....stuck up your ass

Seriously though, are you a kid or something? Cause the way you give your predictions about adobe, google etc you either have visited an alternate future, or your just a kid impressed with his new "imac intel"

[Tech Evangelist @ Feb 4th 2006 2:57AM]

I hope it is a pure IPv6 environment that they are running. If it is then sign me up! It might be *just* the impetus that IPv6 needs to get going.

[robby3ring @ Feb 4th 2006 3:39AM]

Does anyone from engadget ever read their own site?? There was all this talk a while ago about google buying up dark fiber so that it could create its own IPTV system. Now in this post no one has any idea this crazy google company is intending to do with this second internet that they're going to supply "content" for. What could they possibly be up to?

#22 is probably right; and if google keeps their usual attitude, they�re going to give IPTV software for free and the set top �cube� will do the same thing but in a simple box for the old folks.

Google video sucks right now because it�s in beta. It�s been in beta since for ever. Which could also mean that they don�t care about it and are focusing their attention on a bigger project. Google video may even be a side product of this bigger project.

Whatever. I guess it doesn't matter since I just found out that Steve Jobs created the universe and everything in it.

[religion sucks @ Feb 4th 2006 6:26AM]

Applefanboys just burned the flag of a little known Scottish island because they printed a funny cartoon of Steve Jobs.

[Michael May @ Feb 4th 2006 10:28AM]

All this altinternet thing is rubbish - Google is in fact making a power station to harness the energy of antimatter. This is because they will need this for their space elevator, as a 9v battery doesn't quite have enough juice. Soon they will launch their Spooglesat network, which will index the known universe, and make it easy to find planets, stars, nebulae and alien lifeforms which otherwise may have been overlooked. After that, they'll sell Google Desktop Pro to everyone. The Google OS will still flop.

[SUMER @ Feb 4th 2006 1:20PM]

I think starbux gave me a regular mocha frap instead of mocha light..

[Zeus @ Feb 4th 2006 1:44PM]

Wow, that 'Sumer' guy is like a case of viral marketing gone horribly, horribly wrong. Also, dude (Sumer), I'm not exactly sure how you go about comparing Apple and Google and then predict Google's (and the rest of the known universe's) extinction. Google dominates their industry, does Apple dominate theirs? Is Apple even primarily a computer company anymore? (As the majority of their revenue comes from iPod/iTunes)

P.S. Jobs was a noob CEO once too, before the age of 30... The board at Apple also saw fit to force Jobs out in '85 and Jobs only returned in 97-98 iirc.

[photo steve @ Feb 4th 2006 10:13PM]

Assuming there's no major financial scandals at these companies, my prediction is for a whopping amount of the same as usual. Google dominates search, MS dominates mainstream computing, Apple will lose market share in MP3 players and pcs because of the Apple Tax and Jobs' ego, Sony will dominate home electronics. Google might get swallowed by AOL in a hostile takeover. Private IPv6 networks from various service providers will spring up (utilizing dark fiber) to support network-delay-sensitive apps like video- and voice-over-IP. Apple evangelists will rail on Vista. MS evangelists will infect each other with the latest vulnerability-based virus. And Linux evangelists will spend too much time in forums bitching about video and sound card drivers. Thank you and good night.

[Javaflash @ Feb 4th 2006 11:49PM]

The most prolific & successful technology is transparent to end users.

For example, has anyone noticed that Microsoft has been selling patches for 10 years? My friend and I recently dug up an old PC from his storage. The box has Windows 98 and office 97. I placed my new laptop next to it and wow...

Why did that little shop in Redmond worth $293.15 billion again?

[JennsZenn @ Feb 5th 2006 10:14AM]

Comment on comment number 10. Specifically, "THINK IPOD, THINK STEVE JOBS, THINK APPLE, THINK I WEB THINK APPLE SEARCH THINK DIFFERENT"
-If you want to think different, think "Zen Sleek" I can listen to FM radio, record FM radio, make voice recordings with the built in mic. I can upload my songs in .mp3, .wav, or .wma format-I don't have to convert them to a proprietary format before loading them onto my player. No, I can't watch video or podcasts, but I didn't buy an mp3 player for the purpose of watching video or TV, I bought it so that I can have all of my music in one place without lugging a bunch of cd's around. Since Creative makes it, it's top in sound quality too. Creative's business is making sound cards after all. All of these options and cost less than the iPOD. Too bad Creative doesn't advertise as much as iPOD, I really think it would take off into the mainstream! So that's DIFFERENT, almost everyone who has an mp3 player has an iPOD, but I am more than happy to be different with my ZEN SLEEK! C'mon, be a true original!

[thetrash @ Feb 5th 2006 7:53PM]

No offense but I hope with all your "think ..." on your Zen you had a moment to "think warranty". Their reliability is god awful. I only now bought a video ipod and so far really enjoy it. As with all things only time will tell, good luck!

[Nic P @ Feb 5th 2006 9:03PM]

"I can upload my songs in .mp3, .wav, or .wma format-I don't have to convert them to a proprietary format before loading them onto my player."

I dunno if this was an attack at the ipod but the ipod plays mp3 and wav just fine

"so that I can have all of my music in one place without lugging a bunch of cd's around."

I would love to be able to have all my music in one place unfortunatly the creative players only go up to 30gb (I think?), even the ipods 60gb isnt enough

"Since Creative makes it, it's top in sound quality too. Creative's business is making sound cards after all."

Um, Creatives sound cards suck

For the record i dont have an ipod, i'm still waiting for a decent player that will play albums gapless

[Nick Horsthuis @ Feb 6th 2006 11:13AM]

ggg.google.goog

[Nick Horsthuis @ Feb 6th 2006 11:13AM]

ggg.google.goog

[aelso @ Feb 6th 2006 3:20PM]

Isn't the "leading content provider" mentioned in the article, the BBC by some chance, since the London Times happen to be reporting on it first?

[iTodd @ Feb 7th 2006 5:24PM]

This makes sense when you look at what might happen with Network Neutrality. If the govt allows the broadband carriers to give preference to certain networks, etc. it would be essential for Google to make their own 'internet' -- 1) because they'd be paying an insane amount to the broadband carriers and 2) to level the playing field by offering an entirely neutral network to consumers

Perhaps even the fact that they are preparing and could do it will be enough to scare the carriers out of charging for bandwidth preference, etc.

Google's VP, Vinton Cerf's Testimony on Network Neutrality: (PDF)
http://commerce.senate.gov/pdf/cerf-020706.pdf

[SEO Hawk @ May 23rd 2007 10:09AM]

Google is following a monopoly to maximize their revenues through Google Adwords. This is something which is making Google lag behind other search engines like Yahoo, and MSN.

Google became popular because of its latest/accurate results. These days Google is surely aiming to deliver accurate results , but their ranking filters and algorithm can eventually hit back Google like a Boomerang.

They are trying to maximize their Adwords/Adsense revenue, and to enable this they are deliberately holding back ranking of several useful websites. Whenever I have to search for some latest news, free software, free script etc etc, I have to rush immediately to MSN since it delivers latest results. Moreover MSN has emerged as a NO-ENTRY zone for Adult related websites. This will be a major boon for MSN. Their Image search is far much advance than Google :)

These days even Yahoo is gaining pace over Google by delivering latest results in their search engine. Surely Google has to wake up before it is too late. Their useless filters are making life miserable for genuine websites/forums to score top rankings on Google. Moreover it is making life miserable for search users by restricting their search results.

If you are searching for some new stuff then try searching on MSN. I am sure you wont be dissapointed with results. Surely Google needs some hard spanking.

10 years back nobody knew Google, but everybody knew Yahoo. You shouldn't be surprised if you see a whole new search engine emerging from outers-space :)

Meanwhile I have found several other search engines like Dogpile which are very accurate and effective, but still the popularity factor of Google is making other search engines look effeminate.

Nobody knows, but surely the current situation of stagnated results on Google and increasing Adsense/Adwords fraud can give rise to a whole new search engine .

You can also read some other interesting articles related to SEO at : http://www.seohawk.com

[shylor @ Aug 7th 2007 12:59PM]

I think its cool, I have been a google fan for sometime now, when they were google not GOOGLE. I like the fact that they move forward and the fact they are out to help build the internet unlike some of the others that seem to not care if your about to see their search bar, because they have to many ads on their site. It seems that google is the only one that is taking the internet and running with it, while everyone else just wants to make money from it. This is not saying google is not making money. I think its just cool to have a company that is open minded about openness.