As I visited eBay today to complete a sale, it struck me how successful the online auction house has been in moving beyond its roots. eBay's strategic moves have included PayPal, Rent.com, Half.com and eBay Motors. These deals show how eBay is aggressively using the strength of its auction business and the cash generated to create more than a single revenue stream. While some transactions (Butterfield & Butterfield, Kruse International) have not worked out, there have been enough success stories to validate management's ambitious expansion agenda. In contrast, Google appears to be stuck strategically on how to move from the overwhelming success of the AdSense program. To some degree, Google there is no urgency to do anything dramatic because the paid-search market has plenty of room left for growth and the company continues to dominate. That said, one of Google's management's mandates is positioning the company for the long-term. So far, you could argue Google's diversification efforts have been underwhelming. Blogger was a good move made ahead of the blog boom that may or may not pay off over time, while Froogle, Okrut and Gmail have been nothing to write home about. I get the sense Google sees its spin-offs as simply platform extensions for AdSense and experiments to keep its research teams engaged. I keep waiting for Google to be more bold and aggressive. It puzzles me why Google hasn't been able or willing to use the power of its brand to boldly move into new, exciting markets. Its portal strategy, for example, is akin to dipping a toe in the water rather than a powerful stomp. I'm also puzzled why Google hasn't done something yet in the instant-messaging and/or voice markets. With VOIP gaining serious momentum, a Skype-like GoogleVoice service could be extremely lucrative as a business and as a jump-start for the AdSense platform. While I'm sure Eric Schmidt, Larry Page and Sergey Brin are far from complacent, their low-key strategic approach is unsettling.