Hopefully, Google has the common sense to provide outreach to those demanding an explanation this time and not reserve that treatment for their buddies venture funded companies only.  Seems like the story so far.

The data is forming, whatever Google has done, be it, good or bad or malicious will be found.  Regulators in the EU are going to have a field day with this.   Schmidt can't be tightly integrated enough into the Whitehouse with Google continuing antics like this.  Get the gist of where the fallout is going to land if not addressed in professional and respectful manner for a change?

@LyricalQuestion, good piece by the way.

One thing to kick around:
"Google took away from advertising companies all over the world. Commercial Television, movies, Phone Books, etc. It literally killed many industries that are just now actually realizing they are dead - and they still haven't woken up."

Google arguably hasn't killed, but rather devalued traditional businesses.   Hollywood and the recording industry are the best examples.   Advertising wise, they've taken market from traditional entities, but they haven't taken much of the advertisers money.   Many advertisers have gone back to traditional stuff and/or are doing both mediums now.   Google won't kill music or video or even advertising because the traditional companies are giants and eventually bring Google into a Court where Google decides to pay them something instead of litigating, while admitting no wrong. Phone books? Well Google would have to get that data from the publishers of the phone books per se, so they don't get replaced.   Sites like SuperPages have to be rather profitable for such a traditional publishing company of bulky and expensive to produce and deliver annual books--- got rid of a big cost center and license income from Google.

What Google has killed and it sounds contrary to the hype regurgitated by the lame stream mAss media (who Google has a very intimate relationship with) are small businesses.  Especially those in the content generation spectrum, specifically those providing news, collections of valuable information and those artists engaged in any art that can be wholesale stolen.  That is becoming more clear with each brave soul that says I.

Think about it, Google loves the mass concept, another contrary view mind you.  Push a site in whatever linear disproportionally, float their name recognition up, generate more long term repeat viewers from search, or just plaster them in the top all over, then Google can cut special partner deals that are more profitable.  Kind of like the somewhat secretive revenue generation going on at YouTube for high viewership content, by invite only or as it is, a backroom deal.  That observation computes, doesn't it?

Google has the potential to do the right thing, but the path they have been marching down over the past several years is filled with true examples of a company out of control.   Instead of engineering, they are acquiring and licensing aggregation and advertising.  Customer support doesn't exist at Google.  It's discourteous, unprofessional and perhaps even criminal in some instances.