Here's a related and interesting article [1] titled 'Unraveling Google’s Product Strategy' from the author of a post that is linked to on the HN front page (Ode to Little Data)[2].

The author in this related article is really showing the total commitment to ads by google. I find it very unsettling.

[1]http://katsenblog.com/post/58721533658/unraveling-googles-pr... [2]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6782205