Google is stepping up its recruitment of developers with a two-day workshop called Web Forward in May at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Among the major platforms, there is a battle for the hearts and minds of developers. More developers means more applications, which means a more substantive platform, as well as an ecosystem that feeds the Google advertising engine. Microsoft held its Mix 08 conference last week aimed at bringing developers to its emerging Web platform with Silverlight, IE 8 and FeedSynch.

Richard Waters of the Financial Times talked to senior Google product manager Tom Stocky about the event: “I’m not sure I see it as Google versus anyone else. What we’re really doing is promoting the Web as a platform. There’s no Google agenda.”