There are, it turns out, methods behind Google's madness. Google's Marissa Mayer, keynoting at Harvard's Cyber|West conference, unveiled the four strategies driving Google development.

They are, as captured by searchnews, more content, easier computing, personalization and better search. Mayer reportedly flagged various initiatives, spelling out where they fall within the strategic spectrum. Apparently, the expectation at Google is that development efforts will comply with at least one of those four themes; and Google seems confident in its ability to find a way to monetize those breakout strategies that achieve success.

Lurking behind its wild and crazy schemes is a simple belief: What's good for the web is good for Google - a notion all too susceptible to being flipped around to sound like sentiments expressed once upon a paradigm by IBM, Microsoft, General Motors and others. Google's efforts thus far are peaceful - Do No Evil remains a reassuring mantra.

But let us not forget Lord Acton's little aphorism: "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."