FWIW, stories like this are one of the reasons Google maintains a high level of secrecy. While there I asked Urs Hoezle, "Why not brag about it? Isn't that good?" and his response was "It just makes us a target." And he is/was correct, if your enemies don't know the extent of your strength they can't adequately prepare and attack, if your friends don't know the extent of your strength they have no reason to be afraid of you.

That said, this article is based on observing peering traffic -- "It’s impossible to get a total picture of the internet, so Deepfield’s numbers are a best guess based on the traffic flowing through its internet service provider partners." -- and you know they have their own fiber in Kansas City (heck they even bought into some transoceanic cables). You need only look at their quarterly earning reports on their capital investment to get a sense of what we're talking about. And unlike the Government, when Google spends $4B/year on something they get a lot of bang for their bucks.