The New York Times headlined its Sunday business section with an in-depth look at the brewing search wars between the two online giants. The lead illustration for the article depicts Bill Gates peering through the often-tweaked double "O"s that appear on Google's home page. Google really raises Microsoft's hackles from any number of angles: they run open-source Linux operating system software on their servers, they have trumped Microsoft early and often with clever desktop integration features and they are still, generally, very well liked for their anti-hero image. So when Gates says at the Davos, Switzerland executive retreat that "We'll get them," one senses that it's more than just Netscape redux that Microsoft has in mind. Will Microsoft crush Google with superior search technology? On the merits of technology alone Microsoft may achieve some kind of parity, but on the level of business models it may be hard for Microsoft to dissect Google any time soon. Unlike Netscape, Google has been extremely innovative in defining new ways to make money on the Web without asking anything of its users except to use them. There are no software fees to undercut, no overambitious developers thinking to take on Microsoft head on with bloated office automation software. Lack of humility can undercut any young and successful company, but Google's ability to accept and adapt to the existing terrain of desktop technology and to focus instead on content value may yet steer them away from a fatal encounter with Redmond.