> "Selling ads" puts it harshly, but it's entirely what this is about.

By the same token, you're a machine that transforms food and oxygen into excrement and CO2. That puts it harshly, but it's entirely what this is about - if you judge things at that level.

What I mean is - selling ads is what keeps their "corporate metabolism" going, but the actual long-term goals of the founders might be (and, indeed, are) very different from that most basic of all levels.

I think Google has shown they're trying very hard to become a primary infrastructure host for any business in "The Cloud", getting more people online opens up new opportunities there too

Well, yes, but there's an argument to be made that while your cycle is certainly correct, the starting and ending points aren't necessarily fixed.

Why not:

More ads -> more $$ -> more information -> more organization -> more people online (and, thus, more freedom, more intelligence, etc.)