Advertising giant Google has announced it is pushing further into the Internet of Things (IoT) with the planned acquisition of cloud data platform Xively from current owner LogMeIn.

Xively – originally a project of architect Usman Haque under the working name EnvironmentXML, then launching as Pachube (pronounced “patch-bay”) before being acquired by LogMeIn in 2011 and renamed again to Cosm then quickly switching to its current Xively moniker – is designed to offer Platform as a Service (PaaS) functionality for the Internet of Things (IoT). Based on the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) standard, Xively provides directory services, data services, a trust engine, and web-based application management for everything from a single Arduino through to vast networks of devices – and in 2011 was used by volunteers to interlink Geiger counters to monitor the fallout from Japanese nuclear incidents.

“By 2020, it’s estimated that about 20 billion connected things will come online, and analytics and data storage in the cloud are now the cornerstone of any successful IoT solution,” says Google’s Antony Passemard of his company’s motivations for the deal. “This acquisition, subject to closing conditions, will complement Google Cloud’s effort to provide a fully managed IoT service that easily and securely connects, manages, and ingests data from globally dispersed devices. With the addition of Xively’s robust, enterprise-ready IoT platform, we can accelerate our customers’ timeline from IoT vision to product, as they look to build their connected business.”

The Xively platform is to be integrated with Google’s existing Cloud IoT Core service, the company has confirmed. Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.