Google is often enough a favorite speculation target, but have a gander at this: Reports suggest the search kings are pondering a move toward entering the Web browsing market.
Where did that idea come from? Perhaps, among other things, a recent round of high-profile hires, registering gbrowser.com as a domain name, and a pair of Mozilla Foundation bug reports which are said to name Google – reports that usually address Internet browsers.
It also came from the New York Post, which suggested a week ago that Google was pondering a step into the browser rows, prodding the blogopshere and other media to jump in and mull along.
According to eWeek, Google has been mentioned in browser speculation as early as July 2003, when bloggers began speculating on such theories as a union between Google and browser maker Mozilla. But eWeek also said signs that look like Google signaling a step to the browser rows could also mean other moves.
One problem: Google's true plans following its high-profile and sometimes controversial initial public stock offering seem unclear – somewhat par for the course for the unorthodox Google management style.
One of the high profile hires was Adam Bosworth –described by eWeek as "considered one of the top experts in Web services" – who reportedly left as BEA Systems chief architect and senior vice president to join Google.
"Even a powerful brand like Google, if they come out with a browser, it would have to have some significant value to it, or an application to it to get people to move," Gartner Inc. research director Allen Weiner told eWeek. "It's hard to imagine what that would be." Weiner believes Google browser rumors may not be more than the proverbial trial balloon launched to get a line on reaction to such an idea.
But he did suggest Google could consider providing a branded version of an existing browser – like Firefox, Mozilla's open-source browser which, as it happens, embeds a Google-operated search engine in its toolbar.
Mozilla is being almost as circumspect about such ideas. "We talk to a broad range of companies about a broad range of topics, and I'll have to leave it at that," spokesman Bart Decrem said.
