Sure, KML is a great (additional) format for map dissemination nowadays, but saying
Our choice to give KML to the OGC is part of our strong commitment to open standards.
pushes the “don’t be evil” credo a little. Look closer and you’ll see something like
We need the geo-industry to focus and produce more searchable geo content.
between the lines.
I’m still surprised that the HTML of geographic content is not listed at W3C, right next to standards like SVG, MathML, SMIL, etc.