Larry Page has a strange way of showing gratitude to the University of Michigan, his alma mater. Google today opened a new office in Ann Arbor, the university town in which its founder studied engineering. Local dignitaries, in the depressed state, gave the new facility, which will employ up to 1,000 people, the traditionally deferential welcome. I hope they're not too impressed by the high-tech demos on display. Ann Arbor is to be home to Google's Adwords sales, one of the lowest status groups at the Googleplex. Those jobs, about as exciting as selling classifieds, are unlikely to persuade too many University of Michigan graduates to stay in the Rustbelt. After the jump: the map of Google's relentless expansion. Counting major sales and engineering offices, and server farms, the search engine giant now has operations in 16 states. The interactive map, on Google Maps.

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