…But when you scratched the surface, you could always figure how such ventures actually did promote Google’s core business.…

@benthompson’s had a different take that struck a chord with me (I would link, but it’s for paid Stratechery members. Everyone reading this should join immediately.) He asserts that Larry and Sergey have always had more ambitious goals than dominating internet advertising. They want to pursue goals that can radically improve the world for most of its inhabitants. The new Alphabet structure makes that more explicit, while at the same time still giving them access to the gusher of money that Google provides to fund all of it.