Google may be serious about launching its own retail stores or just feinting in that direction, but one thing is clear: the digital giant isn't through trying to find new areas of the online universe to dominate.

Target No. 1 may well be automotive retailing. There's been lots of attention lately to Google's other significant venture having to do with automobiles—"self-driving" cars—but Google seems far more likely to make big strides in the car-selling process online more quickly than it does in programming your car to drive you to work.

Google is poised to expand its fledlging online car-shopping service to dealers throughout California and also to enter more states, Automotive News reported. Dealers in the San Francisco Bay area have tested the service since last summer; consumers can browse dealers' inventory and check vehicle prices without leaving Google search pages, the magazine reported.

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