Google Now Second-Largest ISP 71
bednarz writes "Google is now the second-largest carrier of Internet traffic, accounting for 6.4% of all web traffic, according to data released this week by Arbor Networks. But should IT execs care? Yes, says Craig Labovitz, Arbor's chief scientist, who argues that IT managers need to understand how macro Internet traffic trends will affect the design and management of their own network backbones. 'This will affect how enterprises plan their services... whether they host their own services or whether they use cloud vendors,' Labovitz says. 'The enterprise needs to shift its thinking in terms of [service level agreements] and the way it measures, monitors and secures its networks. That all used to be focused on connectivity, but now it needs to be focused on content.'"
So much and yet. (Score:2, Interesting)
Not an ISP (Score:3, Interesting)
Google is not an ISP. They are a content provider with a whole bunch of really good peering contracts and private fiber. They are not (yet) an ISP.
ISPs provide Internet service to end users. I don't even include transport providers (Level3, UUnet, Sprint, GBLX, etc.) as ISPs.
There are not many pure ISPs left. Clearwire is about the only one I can think of on a national scale.