Google Talk is here, and it's implications are clear. Google is claiming ownership of the individual and the desktop in new ways. Between Google Desktop 2 with the Sidebar, and Google Talk, this week represents a momentous declaration of intent on Google's part.

The news could get more intense. There are two things you should know:

• Google is talking with major IM platforms (Yahoo!, MSN, AIM, and Skype) about creating an open platform. If Google succeeds in this quest, it will be the biggest Internet story in years. The open-IM wars, which used to be so hot, have fizzled in sheer despair. Consumers are forced to run two, three, or more IM clients to reach everyone they know, for lack of interoperability. If Google were to crack this nut it would be a landmark event in Internet history.

• Google is directing its community development toward group search or group browsing, and we all know what that leads to: The mythical Gbrowser. Everyone and their four-year-old kid has speculated on the possibility of a Google browser; this week's browser-like Sidebar certainly points in that direction.

Google is starting to roar in new ways, and the sounds it is making are still preliminary. Sidebar and Talk are placeholders pointing the way.