Dive Brief: 

• Google has made its most expensive acquisition to date with the $3.2 billion purchase of home technology firm Nest. 
• Nest develops smart thermostats and smoke detectors that connect online for software upgrades and can be controlled remotely. 
• The acquisition, according to Nest CEO Tony Fadell, will help Nest "fully realize our vision of the conscious home." 

Dive Insight: 

It seems surprising on the surface that Google would shell out so much dough for a company that just makes smart thermostats and smoke detectors. Nest obviously has had success in building its ideas, but the entire value to Google still seems unclear. Although Nest will stay its own entity and has claimed it will not share user data with Google, that seems unlikely to last in the long term. The user data that could be garnished from items within a connected home seems like it could be a marketing gold mine for the search giant.