Google Fans Fill Web With Buzz Over IPO

[45th Med]

Some Fear Big Changes in Little Search Engine That Could

By Griff Witte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 13, 2004

To get a sense for the level of hype surrounding the possibility that Google Inc. will become a public company this spring, there's at least one surefire way: Google it.

Type "Google IPO" into the vaunted search engine, and within 0.07 seconds, links to 14,000 Web sites come bounding back. The links lead in every direction: online columnists predicting the company's initial public offering of stock will be the first bang of Internet Boom 2.0, discussion threads in which investors pine for a piece of the company, a blogger who insists simply that the Google IPO "is evil."

Google going IPO

[45th Med]

1. Anyone want to have a Google Group Buy?

Let's make some $$$!

[slor]

2. Sounds good, as long as we make a quick profit and run!

Seriously, I am game.

[LeighAnn]

3. Count me in

Let me know where to paypal the money

[NashVegas]

4. Stupidest Thing Imaginable

Unless they've got some unknown debt up to the eyeballs, what need does Google have for an IPO-style cash infusion, at the expense of giving up control to stockholders?

[n0_data]

9. It's probably nothing

But I recall seeing a recent front-page article on Slashdot saying that SCO was leaning on Google for "licensing" fees or some such thing. Though I didn't read it - mainly because there's a SCO story on /. almost daily, and I'm tired of reading about monkey-boy Darl McBride and his retardo organization ad infinitum.

Anyway, I believe a Google IPO was being bandied about long before this SCO nonsense hit. Moreover, I'm quite sure Google has more than enough cash to pay for any licensing fees SCO might try to extort.

So I guess there's really no point to this post. Ahh, crap.

[xchrom]

5. details?

might be interested.

[Chico Man]

6. google search results are losing quality rapidly

Too many sites out there that simply mine search query databases and use these searches as "meta data" for their own site so they can deliver spam and ads.

Google groups seems to be pretty good and much more effective than web searches with google now-a-days.

Regardless, something has to be done to return the search engine back to the glory days of old. And I think this may be a "pay for search" model.

[henslee]

7. Aint that the truth... I thought it was just me....

I was looking for a frost free minifridge and I kept getting routed to riduclous places.... advanced search techniques like quotes ("xxxx") and minus (-) were being totally ignored to take me to some obviously sponsored links.

[Lugnut]

8. I've noticed that also

More and more search results I get end up as clearly sponsored links. It's frustrating.