Active users worldwide
Data centers across 40 locations
Infrastructure spending
Office locations
This analysis explores the relationship between user demand and infrastructure investment. Use the interactive dashboard below to investigate further
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Showing all infrastructure worldwide
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Exploring the infrastructure ecosystem that runs Google's global services
How IXPs, data centers, and offices work together to deliver Google services around the world
Traffic routing & interconnection
Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) are physical infrastructure locations where multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) connect to exchange internet traffic directly, optimizing network routing and reducing latency. IXPs typically consist of high-speed Ethernet switches housed in data centers (managed by 3rd parties)
Computation & storage facilities
Data Centers are Google's computing infrastructure facilities that host servers, storage systems, and networking equipment. They process and store data, run applications, and serve content to users worldwide, handling the actual computation and storage (managed directly by Google)
Business hubs & operations
Google Office Locations represent the business hubs where Google conducts the majority of their operations, including sales, partnerships, and regional business development. These locations indicate where Google has established significant business presence, and where there is typically a need for infrastructure to be close by
Closer IXPs reduce routing hops and improve network efficiency for traffic exchange between providers
Physical distance directly impacts latency, albeit in a small way, but matters especially for intense real-time activities
Office locations indicate where Google conducts business operations, partnerships, and regional market development
Optimal infrastructure requires IXPs for routing, data centers for processing, and offices for business operations
Key Insight: IXPs, data centers, and office locations form the complete infrastructure ecosystem. IXPs optimize traffic routing, data centers optimize computation and storage, while office locations indicate where Google conducts the majority of their business operations and partnerships
Regional breakdown of infrastructure investment
Note: North America dominates with 53% of all data center locations, while Africa & Middle East has zero confirmed locations
How user demand doesn't always align with infrastructure investment
India has 10.6B monthly users (8.04% of global traffic) but zero confirmed data centers. This represents a significant infrastructure gap and potential expansion opportunity
Underserved Enterprise Market: India's massive digital transformation and growing enterprise adoption of cloud services creates urgent need for local infrastructure. Without nearby data centers, Google Workspace and GCP services experience higher latency, potentially affecting productivity and user experience for millions of businesses
Understanding infrastructure decision-making patterns
The US has 25 data centers (53% of total) despite composing only 18.84% of global traffic, which likely reflects government incentives to invest in local infrastructure
India, Brazil, and Africa represent massive untapped potential with high user growth but minimal infrastructure investment to date
Infrastructure follows population density patterns but with significant regional gaps, particularly in Asia and Africa
13 locations are listed as "in development", with 8 of them being outside of North America
Where the next major investments are likely to occur
Building infrastructure in emerging markets: India and Brazil
As Google considers expansion into high-growth markets like India and Brazil, infrastructure development emerges as a critical challenge. These regions represent massive user bases with significant infrastructure gaps, presenting both challenges and opportunities for strategic investment in data centers and supporting infrastructure
Infrastructure barriers
Pathways to success
Microsoft has successfully overcome the infrastructure challenges in both India and Brazil by building data center networks in these regions. Their approach demonstrates that with strategic planning, local partnerships, and infrastructure investment, these emerging markets can support world-class cloud infrastructure
Microsoft's success in India and Brazil provides a proven roadmap for infrastructure development in emerging markets. The next phase of global expansion will require similar strategic approaches, combining local partnerships, sustainable infrastructure investment, and long-term market commitment to overcome the unique challenges of building world-class data centers in developing regions. These are all things that Google has already been doing in communities with existing data centers, so expansion into these new regions will likely be a natural extension of their current strategy
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Analysis by Anna Timofeeva • August 11 2025 • LinkedIn
Google's Global Infrastructure Analysis