Google ups ante on #infowars, #SteveJobs. #Apple, #Amazon

I've blogged more than once over the last couple of months about how Amazon, Apple and Google are the three big players, right now at least, in position to compete for "infowars," that is, vertical integration of information content with products, services or both.

Well, Google has just upped the ante with the announcement that it will run house-generated content on YouTube, with  as many as 100 channels. Big? Yes:

"This depth of content is something the Internet industry has lusted after for years," and it could attract the attention of many brand advertisers, said David Cohen, an executive vice president at Universal McCann, a media-buying agency owned by Interpublic Group of Cos. "This is clearly the most audacious original programming initiative for the Internet, and it capitalizes on the trend of creating niche programming, thinking about people's passions and creating communities around them," he said.

Add in that it's Google TV software is being upgraded, with a likely "integration" factor there, and this is big indeed.

Big for YouTube's heavier users. Big for A-list artists, if not for those lower down the landscape.

And, a big salvo in the infowars by Google. Here's the key to that:

The video content must remain exclusive to YouTube for 18 months, said people familiar with the matter. The creators can take their content off YouTube after three years.

Google wants to be your TV network AND cable company or satellite provider, all in one.

Amazon launched the Kindle Fire tablet with a propriety OS last month. Google's done this.

Post-Steve Jobs, Apple's kind of under the gun now. What's next from Cupertino?