SKIRMISHER

Google seems to have been causing some bit of excitement at the Davos Conference in Switzerland: its planned major Asian data center is sending off Asian heads of state’s knickers in a twist.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia has announced that Google (GOOG) is interested in building a data center in Malaysia. The announcement comes just days after the economic minister in Taiwan said Google is “leaning toward” developing a major data center in Taiwan. Various other reports suggest Google has also scouted locations in Japan, South Korea, India and even Vietnam (which just announced its first data center).

What’s going on here? It’s clear that Google wants to expand its data center network into Asia. Its site location process is engaging heads of state and finance ministers in high-profile jawboning that is bound to heighten the competition for the Google project(s). We’ve seen many examples of companies using the multi-site search as a tool to coax incentives out of local governments, which sweeten their best offers to outbid rivals from other regions. Google’s Asian initiative appears to be wielding this tactic and succeeding spectacularly.

{Not totally unrelated video: Google’s secrets}

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