The Case for a Google Split

With shares of Google(GOOG Quote) setting yet another all-time high and poised to break through the $500-a-share frontier, is it finally time for the search giant to split its stock?

While there seems to be speculation about a split every time the company surpasses another $100 in its stock price -- remember the sticker-shock talk when it crossed the $200 mark almost two years ago? -- the logic now is more compelling than ever.

It might appear that the difference between holding one share that costs $500 or 10 shares that cost $50 each is trivial. But for individual investors, whom Google explicitly sought out in its unusual 2004 auction IPO because of the everyperson's tendency to look at the long term, it's not. ...