All this suggests to me that they're going to make a play for the Long Tail of offline media, just as they've captured the Long Tail of online media.

Let me give a scenario, in maybe 10 years time.

You're out shopping, with your mobile phone, obviously. Your mobile has taken over as your primary means of making all voice calls - using Google Net's VoIP, naturally. Why would you use anything else, when it's free and works everywhere? You don't even have to search for a good connection like those old GSM phones.

Your phone has also become your primary means of accessing the internet, again via Google Net, obviously. Your phone is a thin client, with most storage and processing done on the web. Most people don't have even a PC anymore. If they want to do work that involves a keyboard and a bigger screen, they just pop their phone into the nearest docking station and away they go. With the added advantage that the phone has ensured that the screen layout, favourite apps, bookmarks and files are all available exactly as you'd want them.

Your phone also knows your location at all times - not through anything fancy, like Assisted GPS, but because Google Net knows exactly where you are on the Google Grid.

So suddenly, true location based marketing becomes a reality, no longer a question like "when the tech is available" or "providing you're in line of sight" or "if it's accurate enough".

Shops log on to Google's ZagMe service (indulge me!) and in the same way as they can tell AdWords who they wish to target and how much they're willing to pay, they can alert shoppers to offers they think they'll like. Unlike AdWords, where the merchant chooses keywords, ZagMe will work by matching merchants and shoppers, based on the shoppers' preferences.

Because the ads are served over wifi, there's no cost of transmission (unlike today's sms), so ads can be cheap and gross margins for Google, humungous.

ZagMe will also be a self-learning application. So if the shopper doesn't like a merchant or the type of offer, they can tell their phone and they don't get that again.

The shopper can also decide when and where they want to get ads. And how they get delivered - with an audible alert, or just a silent pop-up on the screen. They can opt out of any and all messages too, if they want, permanently or for a period of time - say, two hours.

So ZagMe tells you about an offer you want and you decide to go into the shop and buy it. You pay for it, with your mobile phone's Google Wallet.