Applications like word processing, the Chrome Web browser, Android, and Google Voice are all about creating an environment where consumers are comfortable and in turn are served with the advertising that is at the heart of Google’s business model. And, so far, that has proved to be a wildly successful enterprise.

“When you look at things like Android or Google Voice, it’s all about their services being at the center,” Bajarin says. “All of this, the front end, the back end, and the browser are ways to tie back to content around the search-ad link.”

All of it is meant to assure that Google will continue to be the predominant player in Web advertising; Google now gets about 30 percent of all the dollars spent on Web advertising. And that’s the sweet spot for growth, because more and more advertising dollars are migrating to the Web.

Google is interested in advertising, but its applications for mobile phones bring it into conflict with Apple and its dominant iPhone and iTunes franchises. Google’s Web-based spreadsheet and word-processing programs, not to mention its plans for an operating system, make it a threat to Microsoft, which is already a competitor for search advertising. The Google Voice program brings it into conflict with AT&T, which has complained that Google blocks expensive rural calls on the program.

Still, revenue has taken off for Google, leading to a Wall Street love affair with the company that gives it tremendous leverage in any battle for the future. Revenue grew to $21.7 billion in 2008 from $86.4 million in 2001. It’s on track to pass $25 billion this year, even in the midst of the worst ad slump in generations. Google’s stock price at its initial public offering was $85; Google stock now routinely trades above $500, closing Friday at $536.75.

“So we’re very optimistic about the future, and we now have the business confidence to invest heavily in the next phase of innovation, helping to invent the future as we see it,” said Schmidt when announcing 7 percent revenue growth for the third quarter.

Google will continue to invest 70 percent of its resources in its bread and butter, advertising and search. The company derives 97 percent of its revenue from advertising and search, either on Google websites or through Google Network websites, with 53 percent of its revenue coming from outside the U.S. Google gets about 2 percent of the total advertising take in the U.S. Only about 3 percent of its revenue comes from licensed services the company provides to other corporations.

Over time, Google wants to diversify its operations. Last month it launched its DoubleClick ad exchange, wading into the display-advertising business that supports most websites. The exchange will let websites offer space that can be purchased in an automated auction system. And Google’s Android operating system for smartphones contributes to Google’s plan to dominate mobile Web advertising in the way it has dominated the desktop.

If the company can match even a fraction of its past success as it pursues its new lines of business, it will be a forced to be reckoned with for many years to come.