Good Night, Google Bears

Times are good for the Google shareholder. On the conference call, Google founder Larry Page said, "We want to be the easiest company in the world for advertisers to do business with." He might say the same thing about investors.

Which means Google bears will probably be holding their tongues for while. And as long as earnings continue to surprise on the upside, there won't be any objections to Google's refusal to offer earnings guidance.

But it also means Google is, for the first time, not facing any real competition. For a company that has thrived on competition, this could be a bigger concern than having too many products. Yahoo! helped make Google the success it is by driving it to keep improving its offerings and sharpen its edge.

It's hard to keep pushing forward when no one is on your heels. If a lack of competition causes Google to lose its edge, people may start to take the Google bears a little more seriously. But for now, that day seems very far away.