No 'I' in Google

"The most likely suspect there is Sun Microsystems (SUNW Quote)," says Gary Beach, publisher of CIO Magazine, in an interview.

The ties between Google and Sun run deep. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt was chief technology officer at Sun. Last year, the two firms signed an agreement to jointly promote their technologies. A spokeswoman for Sun Micro couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Like everything Google does, its partnership announcements attract a huge amount of publicity. For a while, Wall Street would also react with breathless anticipation and bid up the partner's shares. That's no longer the case.

The high-profile announcements also haven't had much of an impact on Google's stock price. It has slumped 8% this year amid broader concerns about a slowdown in the economy.

Plus, some of these announcements may not be as big a deal as their initial headlines indicated. For instance, Google has a long way to go before making a serious dent in Microsoft's stranglehold on the desktop. There also are questions about how keen consumers are going to be for click-to-call advertisements.

In a note to clients yesterday, Merrill Lynch software analyst Karl Rangan didn't seem too worried about Google's move against the Redmond, Wash.-based company.

"It will likely take Google a number of years to match Microsoft's deep functionality and integration," writes Rangan, who rates Microsoft shares as a buy. "If Microsoft can get out Vista and Office 12 on schedule in November (for enterprises) and in the first quarter of 2007 (for consumers), it may allay investor and customer consumers and help showcase Microsoft's continued ability to deliver innovation."