Brief: Google's Nest Buys Dropcam To Disrupt Digital Lifestyle

As June 2014 drew to a close, the tech press assembled in San Francisco to cover announcements from the annual Google I/O developer's conference. But the media mostly missed a significant announcement made late the Friday before by Google's Nest division: the acquisition of Dropcam for roughly $555 million. Although it's not the biggest of Google's acquisitions in dollar terms or even in unique technology, Dropcam solidifies Google's position as the No. 1 digital platform among the platform giants and makes it clear that Google understands what's required to own digital lifestyle, not just the digital home. In this report, we explain what Google gets with this acquisition, how other digital platforms are likely to respond, and how CMOs everywhere need to understand the coming proliferation of environmental sensors.