03_Google

Since returning to the big office last spring, CEO Larry Page has created an executive brain trust–and now they’re transforming Google from a single product into a diversified web power. YouTube’s channel-centric makeover reimagines cable TV in an unlimited bandwidth world, Android helped partners sell more than 250 million phones last year (earning Google an estimated $4 billion in mobile ad sales), Chrome has surpassed Firefox as the second-most-popular web browser (to Microsoft’s), and Google+ continues to be integrated deeply into all of Google’s products. Yet, there’s cause for concern. The company is beset by accusations–some of which it’s had to acknowledge–of overzealously favoring its own products in its search results, moves that have attracted antitrust attention from Congress and the Justice Department. It begs the question: Can Google stop itself from becoming Microsoft?FCS