Google Gets eBay's Goat

In a May interview, a Google Checkout product manager declined to comment on Compete's estimates, saying it was against company policy to address third-party figures. Checkout continues to maintain its conspicuously vague party line that it has signed up "thousands" of merchants for the service.

But beyond Checkout, the move is also revealing about Google's broader thinking and corroborates the growing number of claims about the search giant's hardball tactics. And that's despite the fact that Google has been increasingly vocal about the importance it allegedly places on partnerships.

"I'm very excited to talk to you today and to echo a lot of the sentiments that [Google CEO Eric Schmidt] already shared with you how key partnerships are to Google and how much we care about making our partners successful," Google co-founder and President of Technology Sergey Brin told investors in a conference call after Google's first-quarter earnings.

But Brin's view of teamwork would come as a surprise to a company like Viacom (VIA Quote). The media giant tried to partner with Google several times over the placing of content on Google's YouTube site, but finally walked out on negotiations when it felt that Google wasn't willing to acknowledge the value of its content and split revenue accordingly.

And Google's obtuse ways are not just a matter of manners, either. Its truculence has been seized on by rivals who have used Google's behavior to form partnerships with companies jilted by Google.