Most Google applications now, such as Google Earth and Picasa, now may only be downloaded and installed via Google updater.

If you find the presence of an additional application (Google Updater) to be intrusive or a potential security risk as many of us do, Google does offer its applications without Google Updater bundled. As Google Updater checks for patches and updates to multiple applications including non-Google ones such as Firefox, Skype, and Acrobat Reader, particularly in sensitive environments where you need additional version control, that may be an additional reason to avoid Google Updater.

The link below contains direct links to Google Applications without Google Updater.

http://www.google.com/support/pack/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32610

Google Desktop: http://desktop.google.com/index.html?rd=f
Google Earth: http://dl.google.com/earth/client/current/GoogleEarthWin.exe
Google Talk: http://www.google.com/talk/
Google Toolbar: http://toolbar.google.com/service/tbdl?hl=en&tbdata=T4
Picasa: http://picasa.google.com
Adobe Reader: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Mozilla Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com
RealPlayer: http://www.real.com
Skype: http://skype.com/