...[Google] spent nothing to advertise their site and cut very few deals with other sites. ... Silicon Valley's hottest private company, one deluged with 1,000 résumés a day. ....

has its share of challenges. ... the leader in searching Web pages, but a tiny force in advertising ...

But the bigger question is whether Google has the scale to capture a viable share of the search advertising market. In other words, can Google create a business model even remotely as good as its technology?

Analyst: "The days of investing in Web sites we love are over. People rave about Google. But as a business, it will take an awful lot for them to catch up to [competitors]."

Founders: if they devote themselves to improving technology, users and advertisers will follow.

"We have pride that we are building a service that is really important to the world and really successful for the long term."

... The company is so infatuated with its technical prowess and sense of destiny that it has developed a reputation as being difficult to deal with.

"Serge and Larry are very blunt and very cocky. They honestly believe they can do a better job than other people, and they don't have any hesitation in saying that."

Google's CEO: "I think you need to win, but you are better off winning softly."

... The biggest challenge is balancing Google's increasing popularity with the needs and demands of the sites for which it provides search technology. ... But Google does not yet appear to have sufficient clout with some of the bigger sites.

"At the end of the day, Google is becoming more of a competitor to Microsoft and MSN. We want to work with partners who don't compete with us."