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Where Does Google Plan toSpend $4 Billion?

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 21 - In all the speculation that followed the announcement from Google on Thursday that it planned to raise an additional $4 billion by selling stock, no one seemed to recall the space elevator.

The elevator -- a fanciful alternative to rocket boosters to reach earth orbit -- is one of the dozens of business ideas that have been considered by the company's wide-eyed founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. It also is one of the ideas that the company's chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, has taken pride in keeping "below the line."

Of course, such fringe ventures could easily consume any number of billions of dollars that Google might raise on the stock market. It has been Mr. Schmidt's ability to keep the company focused on its stated mission of "organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful" that has so far made the company a powerful threat to larger rivals like Microsoft.

Indeed, that focus is so deeply interwoven in the company's culture that whatever direction Google turns, it is likely to disappoint those expecting a blockbuster acquisition. The 4,100-employee company that the three computer scientists have built has maintained a marked predisposition toward building and not buying its future. Indeed, its acquisitions to date have exclusively been of small technology start-ups led by designers whom Google wanted to hire.

That is a marked contrast to its two main competitors, the Microsoft Corporation and Yahoo, which have recently turned to high-profile acquisitions to enter new markets.

Google's preference has been instead to try to create new markets from scratch or to redefine existing ones when it enters them.

This week, in two product introductions, Google will both reinforce its central mission and give an early hint of how it is planning to broaden its business strategy beyond advertising-supported Internet searches.

On Monday, Google is planning to introduce a second-generation version of its downloadable computer search tool, Google Desktop. It will come with both personalization and software "agent" features -- learning capabilities -- plus an invitation for independent programmers to develop small programs to extend the capability of the system.

Both capabilities are likely to be seen as further competitive threats by Microsoft, which is focusing on similar information retrieval and organization advances in its long-delayed next-generation operating system, Windows Vista.

"We're really trying to make this into a platform," said Nikhil Bhatla, product manager for Google Desktop. As with Apple Computer's popular Dashboard feature, the idea is that it will be simple for programmers to extend the reach of Google Desktop by adding custom applications, known as live content panels.

Google executives say they plan to unveil on Wednesday a "communications tool" that is potentially a clear step beyond the company's search-related business focus.

While executives would not disclose what the new software tool might be, Google has long been expected to introduce an instant messaging service to compete with services offered by America Online, Yahoo and MSN from Microsoft.

A new Google strategy to enter the communications world could raise even more interesting questions than the current Silicon Valley hubbub over what it might choose to buy.

Indeed, largely overlooked last week in the glare of the $4 billion stock announcement was Google's acquisition of Android Inc., a start-up founded by a former Apple hardware designer, Andy Rubin. The move did not go unnoticed, however, by Silicon Valley cognoscenti.

Mr. Rubin, who also worked for General Magic when it was in its start-up phase, went on to be a co-founder of Danger Inc., maker of the Sidekick smart phone, a combination cellphone and personal organizer that is sold by T-Mobile. Mr. Rubin is being joined by Andy Hertzfeld, another Apple and General Magic veteran. General Magic developed a handheld device in the 1990's.

The Sidekick was an early favorite of both Mr. Page and Mr. Brin, who wore the units on their belts as all-purpose voice and data communicators several years ago.

A Google-branded smart phone has long been a pet project of Mr. Page, and earlier this year Google invested $2 million in a project by Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the M.I.T. Media Laboratory, to develop a $100 wireless laptop. The smart-phone idea, which the company has not talked about publicly, would be a way to extend Google's reach and give it a more extensive connection with its users by offering Google on a multipurpose mobile device.

Google has also attracted wide attention in other communications fields, both with its purchase of fiber optic cable capacity and with several quiet moves it has made in experimenting in wireless technologies.

Recently the company has discussed public Wi-Fi networks with Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco, who is leading an effort to develop a city-backed wireless data network infrastructure.

The idea that Google might try to build an independent national Wi-Fi network has been discussed, but network industry specialists say that such an idea is far-fetched.

"Why would they want to get into the customer service business?" said Michael J. Kleeman, a telecommunications industry expert who was chief technology officer for Cometa Networks, which undertook an earlier national Wi-Fi network effort. He noted that two-thirds of the costs involved in such retail businesses are in customer acquisition and support.

"When was the last time you called Google with a problem?" he said.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section C, Page 1 of the National edition with the headline: Where to Spend $4 Billion? Google Has Plenty of Projects in Mind. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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