Google don't blink.
Here's one for the history books. "For all intents and purposes, Google owns the Web, by virtue of its superior and highly popular search engine." I don't agree. Teoma appears to be as good a search engine as Google. Here's how the Web works. If Google starts claiming that they own the Web, and tries to foreclose, Microsoft will buy Teoma and give something away that Google charges money for. Then John Doerr will be forced to decide if he is willing to wage a cash battle with Microsoft. He will blink. Google will be history.
If I had to bet, I'd bet that Google is smarter. They're not going to make the same mistake Netscape made, and start declaring victory. Instead, they will act humbly, and self-deprecatingly, and try to set expectations low. (They may have a problem because everyone sees them looming so large.) They will figure out what the users want and give it to them. They may try to act like a platform vendor, and if they do, they will have a historic chance to do it right, one that neither Apple or Microsoft or the W3C has managed. (Or dead ones like Personal Software, Lotus, Borland, General Magic.)
BTW, anyone who believes that Google actually owns the Web should remember that Microsoft owns the browser. Google is a good search engine and blogging tool. We don't know how they will connect them yet. I bet they don't either.
Note to Teoma. If you want to compete with Google, you must have image search. [Scripting News]
8:00:52 PM 
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