I don't get it. Why is Google blowing it? Hasn't there been enough destruction of once high-flying companies that they realize it could happen to them also? You only need walk a few blocks from the 'plex to see empty buildings that once housed popular companies. Sure, some of them were inflated by the dot-boom, but still ... it seems to me that Google would be extra careful to manage their business affairs on the eve of their IPO.
In contrast, Ask Jeeves seems to have quietly built a respectable business. You don't hear anything about SEC violations, lawsuits, etc. with regards to them ... it's just search, for the most part ... doing things their customers and users want them to do. I wonder if they are the model for a search business ...