Cloud computing provides on-demand access to shared computing resources like networks, servers, storage, applications and services available over the internet. It offers advantages like cost effectiveness, dynamic scaling, on-demand self-service and measured service. There are three main service models - Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). The document then discusses Google Cloud Platform's IaaS offering called Google Compute Engine and its PaaS offering called Google App Engine.