Google announced the release of the Measurement Lab, which is an open research platform used for testing the performance of the Internet. The Lab was developed through a partnership between Google, the PlanetLab Consortium, the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute and several other academic researchers.

These tools used by broadband consumers and researchers to measure the performance of their Internet connections have been in development for quite some time and their release was received with great enthusiasm. The set includes a tool for measuring whether the user’s broadband provider is slowing BitTorrent peer to peer traffic, a network diagnostic tool and a network path diagnostic tool.

"Transparency is our goal," explained Mr. Vint Cerf, chief Internet evangelist at Google and one of the co-developers of TCP/IP. "Our intent is to make more [information] visible for all who are interested in the way the network is functioning at all layers," he added.

The new platform has three dedicated Google servers, and according to the company, within the next six months, researchers will be provided with 36 servers in 12 locations all around the globe. As expected, all the collected data will be made publicly available.

There are already certain tools used to test connection speeds and identify if an ISP is blocking certain applications. Google’s initiative will help take these actions to the next level, providing a wider set of tools and a better system. "The goal is to let consumers see what's under the hood of their Internet connection," said Sascha Meinrath, a wireless expert at the New America Foundation, as quoted by Reuters.