Google has been watching startups get ahead of the company with various blockchain projects, but now it has decided to take a major step.

Citing credible sources, Bloomberg is reporting that Google is planning to create its own blockchain and offer cloud and transactional services through it.

“The Alphabet Inc. unit is developing its own distributed digital ledger that third parties can use to post and verify transactions,” said one of the sources. Google cloud platform offers various products in computing, storage, networking and other tools. While the company promises security through Identity-Aware Proxy and multiple factor authentication, centralized computing network still poses a threat to its users. So, using decentralized technology will further strengthen Google’s secure infrastructure.

Google has invested in blockchain startups including Sorj Labs, Blockchain, Ripple, LedgerX, Buttercoin and Veem. It ranked second in CBI Insights “Most active corporate blockchain investors” list. However, the company won’t be disclosing details regarding the new concept anytime soon. A Google spokesman explained, “Like many new technologies, we have individuals in various teams exploring potential uses of blockchain but it’s way too early for us to speculate about any possible uses or plans.”

People close to Google explained that it was looking for new ways to use blockchain online. This leads to many use cases which have already been adopted by startups and other businesses. Google’s Internet of Things (IoT) tool and browser Chrome has been outrun by Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba and blockchain startup Brave. Alibaba recently signed a deal with an IoT research institute to launch a blockchain for IoT services.

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Brave is a web browser built on the Ethereum blockchain which connects advertisers, publishers and readers using Basic Attention Token (BAT) tokens. In fact, the platform, built by Mozilla’s former CEO Brendan Eich, raised $35 million under 30 seconds. If Google plans to make the browsing experience better for users, it is unclear how it will tackle the problem of retargeting. Retargeting is the reason you keep seeing ads that remind you of purchases you didn’t make or websites you recently visited. Although it launched a built-in ad blocker, it didn’t solve the problem of the advertising tactic mentioned above. On the other hand, Brave promises users to retain their anonymity by blocking Tracking Cookies and only allowing ads it approves. Users have the option of getting paid for enabling ads via BAT tokens.

Last week, Google banned cryptocurrency-related advertisements since it was being used for harmful activities. “We’ve seen enough consumer harm or potential for consumer harm that it’s an area that we want to approach with extreme caution,” said Scott Spencer, Google’s sustainable ads director.

Source: ccn.com