walkman - 2:19 pm on Sep 6, 2011 (gmt 0)

Prediction: We may see one but not because the "algo nerds" figure out how to show the best sites.

Larry is the CEO and needs to make his mark, and you do that with $$$$$$$$.Just look at the difference between Larry's first earnings [forbes.com...] and second earnings speech [techcrunch.com...] . The second quarter, IIRC, was 100% Panda and the newly minted CEO was all smiles, even took time out of his day to sit and talk to investors that hold some $100+ billion of his company's stock. So Panda is a hero to the CEO and to all Googlers that hold stock /options.

The days when they run it on math and "the earnings would come" are long gone, IMO. Now you're talking quarter to quarter earnings and to justify a $150-$200 Billion market cap they must increase by 20% or so a year.

Google, through Schmidt, already told us what will happen: ID is next, after brands. So maybe they'll push way up those pages with Google verified accounts as the author. Of course to push Google's own property.

P.S. i will change my mind when Google says that 'earnings this quarter were hurt because of an algo update. Our relevancy increased drastically but earnings suffered but long term this is the right path.' I m not holding my breath