Good use of what otherwise would have been a waste of time!

It's really quite amazing all of the different initiatives being pushed by one company. Amazing.

Is this Google's "moat" or is Google beset on all sides? It seems Google is making Microsoft's mistakes and making enemies in every market it can.

A bit of both. Technically I should have stuck the search engine and ad engines into the castle in the middle, but I ain't no designer and it seemed like too much hassle.