The $3.2 billion deal represents one in every of Google’s largest acquisitions

Making a big bet at the “Internet of factors” and at the value of connecting with customers beyond cell phones and tablets, Google on Monday said it has reached an agreement to obtain Nest Labs, maker of well-regarded network-connected thermostats and smoke detectors, for $3.2 billion.

That’s $100 million greater than the corporate paid in 2007 for ad network DoubleClick, arguably the company’s most financially meaningful transaction. Nest Labs becomes Google’s second most costly corporate purchase (or third if inflation is considered). Its $12.5 billion deal for Motorola Mobility two years ago was its costliest acquisition.

Google have been on something of a buying binge lately. It disclosed the acquisition of eight robotics companies in December and has acquired two companies to date in January, the opposite being mobile app maker Bitspin.

Google CEO Larry Page welcomed Nest founders Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers in a Google+ post. “It’s amazing to peer how they’ve taken important but unloved devices and made them beautifully simple and useful,” Page said. “We’re excited to bring great experiences to more homes in additional countries and fulfill their dreams!”

[Are Internet of items devices the subsequent big thing? See 10 Wearables To observe At CES 2014.]

In his introduction of the Nest Protect smoke detector last October, Fadell said, “It is time to love your smoke and carbon monoxide alarm.” That is overstating the case for consumers, who, if not besotted, as a minimum not ought to hate smoke detectors for chirping low-battery warnings within the dead of night.

But for Google, love is within the air, specifically within the network signal that carries data to and from customer homes. It is a deal about expanding Google’s relationship with customers in what it calls the multiscreen world and expanding its reach into new products.

Forrester analyst Frank Gillett in an email said the Nest acquisition “affirms the growing strategic importance of the premise of the Connected Home.”

“I see this in order to understand Google’s ambitions for serving individuals beyond mobile,” Gillett said in a phone interview. “It isn’t pretty much mobile data. It’s about understanding what it takes to support products like Nest’s.”

Gillett suggested that networked home appliances would work well with a service like Google Now, that may automatically ready a house for its owner’s return. However, he characterized Nest as a protracted-term bet for Google, noting that Forrester data indicates only 8% of folks use home automation products. The industry continues to be in its early stages, he said.

That’s hasn’t dampened industry enthusiasm. At CES 2014 last week, Cisco CEO John Chambers extolled the “Internet of Everything,” which he insisted can be “bigger than anything that’s ever been done in high tech.” He predicted the networking of everyday objects will generate $19 trillion in new revenue by 2020. And that is to assert nothing of the capability windfall for security companies that try and ameliorate the insecurity of everything.

This marks Google’s second try to insinuate itself into utility monitoring. In 2009, the corporate launched Google PowerMeter through its philanthropic arm, Google.org. The plan was to partner with local utilities to give customers with online displays in their energy usage data, to assist with energy conservation. But few utilities desired to participate, perhaps worried about ceding their customer relationships to Google. Also, integration with third-party hardware proved difficult. The service was retired in 2011.

Gillett observed that the deal underscores Google’s growing commitment to building its own products, like Apple, in place of building operating systems for Android and Chrome OS hardware partners.

Apple’s resurrection following the return of Steve Jobs in 1997 and its subsequent prosperity remains the foremost compelling argument for controlling both software and hardware. Larry Page is claimed to have admired Jobs, and in Fadell he gains an executive who helped steer the event of Apple’s phenomenally successful iPod.

When Page took over as CEO in 2011 he said, “All and sundry at Google desire to create services that folks internationally use twice an afternoon… similar to a toothbrush!” Given the scope of the company’s acquisitions and interests — from robots to automated cars to home appliances to mobile and wearable computing devices to ads — Google customers may be brushing constantly. 

Thomas Claburn is editor-at-large for InformationWeek. He have been writing about business and technology since 1996 for publications which include New Architect, PC Computing, InformationWeek, Salon, Wired, and Ziff Davis Smart Business. He’s the writer of a science fiction novel, Reflecting Fires, and his mobile game Blocfall Free is out there for iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire.

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