Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) does not much like the fact that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is making a bid for internet portal firm Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). So the world's largest search company has decided to start a PR campaign to get the government to kill the deal.

In a blog post, Google Senior Vice President David Drummond asks whether Microsoft could "now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC," according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Microsoft immediately took the other side of the argument by saying that Google dominates the global search market. A purchase of Yahoo! would not knock Google out of the No.1 spot.

The bickering over the matter probably makes little difference. Google is so powerful now in internet search that Microsoft may not make much progress there even by owning Yahoo!. There will be all sorts of integration problems if its bid goes through. Google probably will keep gaining search share in the meantime. The government knows all of that. There is little reason for it to oppose the deal.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

It's hard to find a nick in Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) shining armor these days, sans the great quarter it just had. Although many media pundits shunned Google after its recent earnings were announced (dropping the stock more than $35 overnight), the Internet search leader continues to beat up on the competition and do very well with all the tentacles it has across the Internet right now. Most of its revenue still comes from text advertising, but more divisions are finally starting to pick up some revenue weight.

But in what I consider to be a small blemish on Google's picture-perfect financial resume so far, its chief legal officer -- David Drummond -- will be paying an SEC fine of $700,000 for his past role as the CFO of SmartForce. The beef surrounds the overstatement of revenue at his former company. Egad, what does this say about his current role as chief counsel of Google, Inc.? In fact, with Google on a hiring tear recently, what other secrets are some Google employees hiding? With the company under such an extreme financial limelight, will more possible underhanded tactics from the former gigs of current employees surface? Stay tuned for that.

Right now, Drummond is not directly responsible for financial statements at the Internet search behemoth, but this SEC fine does cast a little bit of worry on Drummond's past. $700,000 is not but a drop in the bucket from a monetary standpoint, but the trust questions that result from a situation like this in fact do crop up. Feel like sleuthing into Google's executive ranks further to uncover some more dirt? To those wanting Google to take a very public fall for something, don't think these efforts are not underway. So far, most of the company is pretty darn clean, though.

In reference to Drummond, Google CEO Eric Schmidt stated in an email that "we are pleased that David and the SEC have reached a settlement that brings closure to matters which occurred more than six years ago. David has been an important part of Google's growth and success and we look forward to his continued contributions." Six years ago was quite a while, but it does not erase the fact of why Drummond agreed to pay almost three-quarters of a million in SEC fines.