Google’s corporate “Ten things Google has found to be true” outlines some of Google’s core philosophy and strategies, some of which may contradict several of the search giant’s recent additions and acquisitions.

“It's best to do one thing really, really well. Google does search. Google does not do horoscopes, financial advice or chat. With the largest research group in the world focused exclusively on solving search problems, Google knows what it does well and how it could be done better,” wrote Google’s corporate information page.

Don’t forget anything Google.

• Blogger – In February of 2003, Google acquired Pyra Labs, owner of Blogger.com. Google’s Blogger service has now taken off, and is part of the Google empire. “We liked Google a lot. And they liked blogs. So we were amenable to the idea. And it worked out nicely” wrote Blogger’s “About Us” page.
• Picasa – Google struck again and acquired Picasa, Inc. in July of 2004. "Picasa is an innovator in the field of digital photography, and we're excited that the Picasa team is joining Google." said Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president, Product Management. Picasa is downloadable software which allows users to organize digital photographs.
• Gmail – Yet another one of Google’s rapidly growing endeavors is the newly developed Gmail. The new application allots users an unprecedented 1GB of email storage space, and is free for users. Gmail is currently at an invitation-only basis, but as Google continues to increase the number of invitations it allows users to issue, the service is quickly becoming public. Many privacy advocates are concerned Google’s new email service might violate privacy rights because Google scans every message so it can deliver relevant text ads.

I thought Google just did search? Although Gmail contains some features driven by Google’s search technology, it’s still an email application, not a search engine. And although Picasa may help users organize photos more efficiently, it’s certainly not in tune with Google’s philosophy. “It's best to do one thing really, really well.”

Then there’s Blogger. Blogger certainly doesn’t sound like a project from a company “focused exclusively on solving search problems.”

I infer from the contradictory statements coming out of Google that the company may be the next Yahoo, delivering up everything under the sun. But then again, Google is public, and maybe that’s what the investors want.