[mladenkovacevic]

Ah yes the old "Google is evil ad company" shtick. You see an impressive new technology and this is the only way you can frame it to initiate a discussion??

But actually your scenario sounds plausible if Google was the most ignorant, narrow minded, child-like version of an ad network. If they have any smart people at all working at Google, I think that they would have a much wider, longer-term vision in which they can generate value from more than just bombarding you with ads in the most direct, obvious way possible. If they feel at all compelled to stay relevant and profitable for the longest amount of time possible, then they are working on that right now.

[ttt_]

Given Google's recent change in trend, where do you think it stands?

I can see that it would initially be relevant, than it would gradually stray and become increasingly flooded with obvious ad bombarding and irrelevancy, much like what Google did to search.

[27182818284]

The recent change in trend has never shocked me like the very small shocked few. A lot of people will say something like "Google is creepy!" and then turn around and do 10 searches on it that day in between checking their Gmail.