Duh -- it's so obvious. Google doesn't want to go public. They have to go public due to some esoteric SEC reg that has to do with number of outside investors in a privately held company or something like that. The argument, as I recall, is that once the number of investors gets over a certain threshold (500?) the company is essentially public and the reporting/auditing burden of a public company is required. So Google goes public. I read an article on this months ago; don't have the link handy (sorry). Google is making it difficult for all invovled so that folks who end up with Google shares have motive to simply sit on them.

Google wants control of their own destiny, and public companies don't necessarily have that ability. Their Dutch Auction style IPO (see MarginalRevolution's awesome summary) is another clue; it forces folks to make high offers -- it forces them to be committed.

So I'm guessing Google doesn't care about the press they're getting. They probably don't really care about the money. If they did, they could've gone public and raked it in a few years back. The leadership and founders of the company are going to do all they can to keep control localized and secure.

That's my take, anyway. Don't look for Larry & Segey to cash out any time soon. They're not doing it for the money, and I bet they're having a load of fun.