Is Google’s senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer David Drummond (pictured), about to become the head of a dedicated Venture Capital division of Google? The Wall Street Journal seems to think so - adding that Google has hired William Maris, a former Web hosting entrepreneur, to help set up the unit.

As TechCrunch points out this would give Google the capacity, instead of flat out acquisition, of taking a stake in an company in which it is interested. In June of last year Google started a fund to invest in other companies called Gadget Ventures.

"The move would make Google the latest technology giant to take on a more-formal role in seeding start-ups," notes the Journal in its article, which continues:

"Intel Corp. has had a large venture-capital arm for years, as have Motorola Inc., Comcast Corp. and many others. In the consumer-Internet area, Walt Disney Co.’s Steamboat Ventures has invested in a number of Web start-ups. So has Amazon.com Inc., which has funded a number of young companies without structuring a formal fund."