Google's Biggest Data Center Investment Yet

Google (GOOG) spent $842 million on its infrastructure in the first quarter of 2008, its largest capital expenditures ever for a single quarter, the company said today. The previous high water mark was $699 million in the second quarter of 2006. The record capex investment reflects the acceleration of Google's data center construction program in 2007. Here's a look at the trend:

The higher capital expenditures are likely due to ongoing construction on the four major data center projects Google announced in the U.S. in 2007, including facilities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Iowa. Google says its capital expenditures are "related to IT infrastructure investments, including data centers, servers, and networking equipment."