Google Gets Friendly

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David Eun, Google's vice president of content partnerships, insists that consumer interests continue to trump business concerns. He points out that Google recently decided not to place ads at the start of videos on its site because users would expect to see content, not promotions, when they first clicked. "Don't make the customers hate you" is rule No. 1 on the Internet.

Google's biggest challenge in satisfying its partners and staying ahead of its rivals, says Terry, is managing its explosive employee growth rate. There are now 9,000 Googlers, which certainly adds to the Googleplexity. "When it seems like they're bringing in more outsiders than they have insiders every year and doubling the size of the company, it's hard to maintain the corporate culture that made them successful," says Terry.

Schmidt isn't worried about a challenge from the outside. "Maybe we should be, but we're not. As a leading company, the seeds of our own destruction are within us," he says. To keep them from germinating, Google has come up with 30 key questions to direct its strategic focus. A sampling: "What are the next big breakthroughs in search?" and "We have a lot of cash. What should we do with it?" Google just celebrated its eighth birthday with a strategic review. For 2007, the plan is to spend some of that cash on mobile technologies and more new partnerships.

And if it's any consolation, and it probably isn't, Google is not unlike Microsoft at this stage in its corporate life. In 1983, when Microsoft turned 8, it was basically a one-product company with lots of growing pains. The next two products worked out. They were called Word and Windows. •