I have to disagree. Just because some people choose to choose otherwise isn't a compelling enough reason that there's faltering occurring in Google's approaches to things.

Now be honest, many the same arguments were brandished about with MS during the DCOM/ATL vs fledgling .NET days. And even further back than that, dating back to the days where Win32 was but a whisp in the mist, in the minds of folks like Steve Woods, Darren Messina ( Microsoft Bob, anyone ), Scott Ludwig and the great Dave Cutler (VMS+1 = WNT indeed). Everyone goes through "sophomoric" phases.

Jumping the shark takes real unadulterated, in your face, "I don't bloody well care what they think, I'm getting paid anyway" Chutzpah ! Sounds like SteveB when trying to win over "Developer ! Developer! Developers!". Pick a different metaphor to assign Google's missteps. Jumping the shark ? Hardly.

I am sure smart people going to facebook instead of google would have nothing to do with the fact that the former is a "Pre IPO" company with a $15B valuation.

I don't know that Google has jumped the shark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark) quite yet, given how the terminology implies serious drop-off after the fact. Google hasn't begun the descent, but they haven't really done much in their recent history.

You're closer to the mark than Marcelo -- no offense Marcelo, but the Microsoft-did-it-too analogy is a little too simplistic a defense for Google's strategy. As a developer, the erosion in respect and value from the technical community is definitely growing.

Here's what I see:
- Spouting profusely about the value of open-source software (I agree), yet giving very little back to the community (source project hosting != community support).
- Lackluster APIs: yes they have them, but try building a business on these. Amazon is cleaning house in this area -- Amazon, the online retailer!
- More unfinished business: add this to the list -- Google Gears. Supposed to be the MSFT killer (http://scobleizer.com/2007/05/30/google-brings-developers-offline-with-gears-new-offline-reader/), and I've heard zip-zero-zilch about it since the PR announcement.

Never mind the business matters to be addressed (index spam? youtube copyright issues? click fraud? 99.whatever% of company revenues from adsense/adwords?)

After a while the technical guys will be done standing around patting each other on the back and notice that everyone else is starting to look elsewhere. Definitely a watershed year, it will be interesting to see who figures that out first.

Count me as one of the uptick, in Nov. 2007 I turned down G to go with that other "small west-coast-based startup giant" Microsoft... glad I did.