eh, Google Labs is still very obviously Google though. the idea would be, for each new product, to create an entirely new brand with no obvious connection to Google, that Google could later bring on full time if they decide they're ready to commit

for example, "Google Allo" could have just been released as "Allo", separate website and everything, and if Google feels it's working out and is the future of their messaging platform, eventually officially bring it in to the Google ecosystem. sort of like a buyout