We're all operating on borrowed time and borrowed money. We need to make a choice.

The company's stellar growth revived more than a few economic sectors, as well as a few neighborhoods.

Growth is good, at least for those doing the growing.

While Google has given away pretty much everything it has to offer - from search and maps to email and apps - this has always been part of its greater revenue model: the pennies per placement it gets for seeding the entire Google universe of search and services with ever more targeted advertising.

By turning every Yahoo search box into a Bing box, Microsoft may have bought itself the exposure it needs to be the next Google.