It’s probably a good idea to have a bit of an understanding on what’s happening with Google. The 2008 Founder’s Letter is worth a quick read:
New and amazing computational capabilities will be born that we cannot even imagine today. While about half the people in the world are online today via computers and mobile phones, the Internet will reach billions more in the coming decade. I expect that by using simple yet powerful models of computing such as web services, everyone will be more productive…The dark clouds currently looming over the world economy are a hardship for us all, but by the time today’s children grow up, this recession will be a footnote in history. Yet the technologies that we create between now and then will define their way of life.