Google, Google … ten duotrigintillion times, Google

Just about everything Google Inc. does these days gets attention across all mass media and with good reason. Surely the no. 1 used website of ‘em all, the company has even produced an official verb, at least in common parlance: “to google.”

(Indeed, many have forgotten or are unaware of Edward Kasner’s wonderfully-named number the googol, a.k.a. ten duotrigintillion, a.k.a. 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, for which the website is named.)

This week, the 21st-century’s official sponsor announced a new corporate tagline: “Search, Ads and Apps.”

The tag was released as a prelude to Google’s annual shareholder meeting, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt stated the line was to “[reflect] a shift beyond search and advertising into online software applications.” Schmidt went on to say that the company would focus on the three parts of its business.

Google got into software application market last year with Google Apps, a range of software and web publishing tools, and this new PR move is seen by as a gauntlet thrown before Microsoft Corporation itself.

“The idea here is to talk about this shift to an online lifestyle,” Schmidt said.