Google WiFi

There has been a lot of talk recently regarding Google’s next foray into a market. In the past few weeks they’ve launched Google Talk and there always seems to be something brewing in the mysterious Google Lab.

At first it sounded pretty innocent. Google were buying up huge amounts of unused data cable, not that surprising considering they’re essentially a data company. But when put into context with the latest developments it could be that we’re about to get local advertising subsidised broadband. I spoke to a friend who works for BT Wholesale and he commented that it was ‘all very well’ for Google to buy up cheap data cable but it was the ‘last mile’ that would cost the money. So it appears that Google could get around this problem by broadcasting a WiFi signal.

This argument has taken an interesting turn thanks to the launch of Google Secure Access which ‘allows you to establish a more secure connection while using Google WiFi’. This is being trialled in San Francisco right now.

The advertising implications of this are pretty incredible. If you access the Internet through Google WiFi using the Google Secure Access program, Google know exactly where you are. Using their Google Local technology they can serve up contextual ads that are relevant to your location, you can then use Google Maps to find the service. Pretty amazing.