When people are throwing money at you, then you're really foolish not to take some of it.

At nearly $280/share, Google is Bubble-Priced. So it makes sense for Google to take some of this money. Over 14 million shares means more than $4 billion in cash, a Microsoft-like horde (especially as earnings continue to accelerate).

How can they do better with this cash than Microsoft has?

Analysts are already speculating on what Google will do with the money. It's burning a hole in the M&A pocket. Will they buy China's Baidu? Will they take out American start-ups, like Technorati? Who will they hire next? How plush can the offices be made? (If spokesman David Krane were given enough money to buy me a beer and a nice dinner, I wouldn't object.)

But these are the wrong answers. Google needs, more than anything else, to stay frugal, to stay focused, and to keep its eye on the ball, which is search. Google overtook Yahoo (it's now worth about 60% more, $77 billion against $48 billion) because it stayed focus on search.

There is growing resistance to Google's mission. Each new move forward gets push-back, often via major media. Google Earth is opposed by security interests. Google Print is opposed by writers, Google Library by libraries. Google Desktop drew C|Net to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who responded by cutting the site off.

How do you not do evil and still fulfill the mission?

It's not an easy question. Google needs to get its act together, its mise en place. It gets harder as you get older, and farther away as you get closer.

But that's a task worth investing in.