Google browser? No. Well, maybe

Google CEO Eric Schmidt told investors this week that the company has no plans to develop its own browser.

Well, sort of.

During a conference call, Schmidt said that the company would only make its own browser "if we thought there was a real user benefit," adding that "our observation is you have a number of good browsers now."

That answer left enough wiggle room for bloggers to continue their long-running speculation that Google would one day roll out its own offering, complete with search, e-mail, shopping, wallets and who knows what else.

Blog community response:

"Google has become a staunch supporter of Firefox, placing a 'switch to Firefox' ad on Google's home page when viewed in Internet Explorer. So, no Google browser yet - but I wouldn't put it past the Googleplex to do this eventually."
--Google blog

"Pretty much everyone took the comment to mean, 'no Google browser', but I've been listening to Google long enough to know that they always leave the door open. While Google wouldn't build a browser for the 'fun of building a browser', building it to make some cold, hard cash, is a pretty good reason."
--Marketing Pilgrim

"Speculation that Google would release its own web browser with its search, e-mail, and other products integrated has been widespread for years and I doubt this will quash them entirely (if not for fun, Eric, how 'bout for money?). Anyway, we can still speculate about Google OS, can't we?"
--Download Squad