I believe it's a similar phenomenon to Shipping the Org Chart.
The "Experiments" and "Labs" stuff at Google always feels like it exists because the bigger org can't be convinced to do something fast, but in getting it out this way they also cause it to never be integrated into the main money making piplines of google either thus dooming whatever tech they wanted to get out there.
And what research is for? I mean, it can be something long term but research could also be short term. I don't know if it was Bellman or Knuth that said: "If you can solve it, it is an exercise; otherwise it's a research problem.". I understand that labs could have a problem in mind that could be solved technically but NOT solved businesslike but also include problems that are short-term research and could be feasible or not.
The "Experiments" and "Labs" stuff at Google always feels like it exists because the bigger org can't be convinced to do something fast, but in getting it out this way they also cause it to never be integrated into the main money making piplines of google either thus dooming whatever tech they wanted to get out there.