So that the reveal can be done on their own timing, only when things are ready, for maximum desired effect.
Trickling details out about something still taking shape leads to expectation problems, and perhaps less favorable coverage (in magnitude and tone) at intended launch time.
> Can somebody explain the point behind the secrecy? What does Google have to gain by taking all these steps to hide they're the ones building it?
It's too big to hide the fact that someone is doing something, so by making obvious efforts to keep it secret, they prompt people to look into it, find clues that its tied back to Google, and give more press to the effort than it would have gotten if Google had issued a press release about building floating data centers.
Perhaps corporate espionage/sabotage? Or maybe to keep things relatively low-key around the site.
Or perhaps the tech/approach is untested, and they want to do some preliminary tests/dry runs before putting their branding all over it.
These security measures are pretty tame in the grand scheme of things though. I think if google did want to completely mask their involvement, they would have at least issued different badges and credit cards to their employees on site.
I think these will probably get floated somewhere within the bay, and they will probably ruin the bay views of some people. They have probably found a way to build them without going to public hearings and want to finish the job before the locals get wind of this and try to pass new laws to prevent their installation.
google is always incredibly secretive about their datacenter technology. it's a big advantage to be able to run a datacenter more cheaply and efficiently than your competitors.
