Google to Launch Venture Capital Arm

We know you're a little busy keeping track of the Scrabulous fight, but while you were trying to figure out how to play Wordscraper, Google has been quietly building a venture capital arm of its own. The Wall Street Journal reports that the new project will be led by Vice President of Corporate Development David Drummond and William Maris, who used to do health investment work with Sergey Brin's new wife Anne Wojcicki. VentureBeat's Chris Morrison speculates that Google plans to use the fund to beef up its Android mobile Internet service, investing in new telecommunications companies as a way to penetrate the mobile advertising market. But as the Journal points out, big companies that build a VC arm have run into resistance from entrepreneurs, who worry that their corporate investors might hamper their freedom to sell out to rivals.