Google (GOOG) gave investors some Q4 numbers to digest after the bell on Thursday, but that news may have been overshadowed by a surprise change in management. As I'm sure everyone has heard by now, Larry Page will be taking over CEO duties from Eric Schmidt.

But let's have a look at the numbers anyway. On a reported basis, the search-engine business made $7.81 a share, good for a 27% year-over-year growth rate. On an adjusted basis, per-share profit came out to $8.75, comfortably ahead of the $8.06 projected by Wall Street. The top line also put in a strong showing.

Maybe you already are. Good for you. Most investors aren't. They're still waiting for the big pay off. The problem is that most of them don't understand that there are several ways to be rich. Here are three ways to get yours.

For most people it takes a long time to gather enough wealth to feel comfortable, a great way to define rich. It takes years of saving, investing, and sacrificing for future rewards. It's not easily done, but if done correctly, it will pay off.

In a breakthrough for tech firms, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) approved a plan to open unused TV channels for wireless broadband. FCC chairman, Julius Genachowski said the move would offer "unique opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs."

Companies like Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT) and Dell (DELL) have been pushing the FCC for this decision. The unused TV channels are called "white spaces" because signals can carry long distances and through buildings.

The widely anticipated IPO for Tesla Motors is finally here. Based in Silicon Valley, the company designs and manufactures high-performance, fully electric cars. The investors include the co-founders of Google (GOOG), Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and the founder is Elon Musk, who helped create PayPal.

The company's first car, which came on the market in 2008, is the Tesla Roadster. It can go from zero to 60 MHP in 3.9 seconds -- without any tailpipe emissions. On a single charge, the car can also go 236 miles. However, the price tag comes to a hefty $109,000.

Rajeev Motwani, who died this week at 47, was one of the most versatile tech veterans in Silicon Valley. From New Delhi, he came to this country in the 1980s and certainly realized the American dream.

Motwani earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley, and from there he went over to Stanford. Interestingly enough, he taught Larry Page and Sergey Brin -- the co-founders of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). In fact, they wrote a key paper that was the harbinger of PageRank.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt and its thirty-something founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will again toss themselves a $1 annual salary this year. Their salary compensation has been a single greenback ever since Google went public in 2004.

The three will also forgo the bonuses and stock awards that are given to many of the search giant's 20,000 employees. But the beggar bags should not go out just yet.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

There's no doubt about it -- times are tough. People are struggling to find work and to pay the bills as the value of their homes and savings dwindle. The poor get poorer, and the rich get richer.

Or do they? It's all relative, of course, but world's billionaires have been taking some big hits too. We take a look at Sheldon Adelson, Kirk Kerkorian, and Lakshmi Mittal in their own separate posts, but here are some other billionaires who have lost billions this year (courtesy of Forbes and Business Sheet).

• Brothers Anil and Mukesh Ambani of India's private conglomerate Reliance lost $32.5 billion and $28.2 billion, respectively.
• Warren Buffett, the Sage of Omaha, lost $16.5 billion. Shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A) are down about 32% since the beginning of the year.
• Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen lost $12.3 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively, while CEO Steve Balmer lost $6.5 billion. Shares of Microsoft are down 46% since the beginning of the year.
• Larry Page and Sergey Brin, cofounders of Google Inc. (NYSE: GOOG), lost $11.9 billion and $11.7 billion, respectively, and CEO Eric Schmidt lost $3.8 billion. The share price of Google has fallen 55% since the beginning of the year.
• Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL), lost $8.2 billion. Shares of Oracle are down 21% since the beginning of the year.
• Media maven Sumner Redstone lost $7.2 billion. Shares of his private investment firm National Amusements fell 70% this year.

As we begin the trek to grandmother's house, it's worth reflecting on what we have to be thankful for. The answer? When it comes to money, most of us have a lot less than we did a year ago. But for those of you who have your health and your families to comfort you, it will cost much less to buy the gasoline to visit than it would have in July. And as you're driving to visit those families -- consider how much less you lost in the last year than the world's 10 biggest losers.

According to the web site, The Business Sheet, those unfortunate people suffered a mind-boggling $176 billion in lost stock market value in the last 12 months. It turns out that 52% of the losses were suffered by three executives based in India. Here they are:

• Anil Ambani - $32.5 billion. Ambani heads Reliance Communications that invested $500 million in Dreamworks earlier this year.
• Lakshmi Mittal - $30.5 billion. Mittal heads ArcelorMittal which has suffered from a decline in the price of steel.
• Mukesh Ambani -$28.2 billion is Anil's brother and controls Reliance Industries, a petrochemical manufacturer.

These are some other folks that make The Business Sheet's list:

• Sheldon Adelson -$30 billion. I did consulting work for Adelson about 22 years ago and he is quite a character. His Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) casino is suffering from the economic slowdown and he's had some trouble with debt.
• Warren Buffett -$13.6 billion. As I posted, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) has had some problems this year.

A look at the new Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) proxy shows that founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were each paid $1 for their work in 2007. Steve Jobs has done the same thing at Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). Of course, the two Google founders each have about $13 billion in stock and Jobs is also rich as Croesus.

The $1 salary is a bit of theater. It says that the compensation of senior management will be built on the stock price. If it does not do well, all we have is that $1.

The gesture does not even fool idiots when the share price is down and the management is wealthy. Even with Google off from a high of $747 to its current price of $450, Brin and Page retain wealth which is beyond most investors' wildest dreams. The level of their salaries has no meaning.

Google shareholders would be much happier if Brin and Page plundered the company for tens of millions in compensation provided that they get the stock back over $700. The $1 salary is just an insult.

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

Valleywag reports that Fortune's editor, Andrew Serwer, posted a blog entry October 19 about the wedding of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) co-founder Larry Page to his girlfriend Lucy Southworth. (Fortune and BloggingStocks share the same corporate parent, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX)).

But when Valleywag wanted to write about the post, it had disappeared from Fortune's website. When Valleywag went to Google's cache, the reference to the Page/Southworth wedding was gone. Fortunately for those interested in the details of the post, Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) had a copy of the original.

By the way, the Serwer post said that Page and Southworth were getting married on December 7, and those attending the blessed event will need passports, which suggests it will be outside the U.S. Valleywag now suggests that the wedding could be held on Richard Branson's Necker Island. But one question remains unanswered: if you know why Fortune and Google removed this post from their sites, please comment below.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

With Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) shares at an all-time high (giving the search leader a ridiculous $200 billion market cap), the triumvirate leadership of founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt have set their collective eyes on yet another jumbo jet to cruise around the world in.

This situation sounds like 1999-era dot-com exuberance madness, but the market has pushed Google to insane levels and the company has billions of cash on hand for anything it needs, as in acquisitions, global computer server farms and huge jets.

In addition to the new jet purchased under the auspices of a company names H211, LLC, the three Google leader have scored an exclusive agreement for airport access at Moffett Field, including the rights for four planes in total. Moffett Field is very close to Google's Mountain View, California headquarters.

The current staple of planes owned and operated by Google's seemingly-eccentric leadership trio includes two Gulfstream Vs, a Boeing 767, and the new Boeing 757. Are other Silicon Valley CEOs jealous? Most likely, yes. But, at least the Google folks are buying 'green' credits to offset the jet fuel they'll be expunging. As a Google shareholder, do you think the company needs a small jet army like this?

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently trading up $15.29 to $609.20.

GOOG is expected to report earnings per share (EPS) on October 18th. GOOG October at the money 580 straddle is priced at $32.10. GOOG October option implied volatility of 38 is above its 26-week average of 27 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

The Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) CEO Glenn Murphy hosted a meeting with analysts on October 5th.

Smith Barney says "Mr. Murphy is focused on making the company gets an adequate return on its investments. This includes a focus on the expense of the business. We suspect there will be continued focus on moderating the cost structure and assessing various cost components, including marketing. We think the real estate portfolio is under review." GPS over all option implied volatility of 31 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting flat price risk.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

The New York Times Digital Domain column wonders about "The Human Touch That May Loosen Google's Grip" in Sunday's edition. Given that nearly all of Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) revenue comes from ads that appear on its search results pages and partner sites, it's an issue that Google shareholders may need to worry about. After discussing the severe smackdown that Google has laid on the likes of Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) in terms of search revenue, author Randall Stross sums up what may be the best bear case on Google:

"The fumbling of Google's largest challengers, however, has not dampened the enthusiasm of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists for entering the search game. The combination of low start-up costs and potentially huge profit makes it seem a reasonable bet.

Developing a search algorithm can be accomplished by very small teams. It was a team of two -- Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google -- who developed a new and improved search algorithm. They beat out Alta Vista, whose search engine was developed by seven people at the Digital Equipment Corporation."

While much has been made of Google's acquisitions, corporate culture, and innovation, let's face if folks: Google is a search engine and the rise of a new, better, algorithm designed by two other college kids could spell the demise of Google.

Every Google shareholder should read Stross's column. With the large amount of venture capital funding available, there's an awful lot of would-be Larry Pages and Sergey Brins out there looking for a piece of Google's staggering 29% net profit margins.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) continue to turn up those collective noses every time the subject of "click fraud" comes up to bat. It's something all companies that bill ad partners for mouse clicks can't avoid, and the legions of unscrupulous hucksters who want to cost competitors marketing dollars for bogus clicks will not end any time soon. Google has made it a point of saying it has very sophisticated and proprietary systems to track the causes of click fraud and return ad spends to clients who believe they are victims.

Are paying customers satisfied with that promise? At an InterACT Conference today in San Francisco, a chief research scientist for Fair Isaac will say that 10% to 15% of clicks billed to Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertisers that use Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and other Internet portals are the result of fraudulent traffic. Now, this will be an interesting statement to forensically dissect, as in "how does he know that?"

Google will most definitely hear from ad partners who continue to maintain that they lose millions of dollars to worthless clicks (clicks that result in no actionable intention from the clicker). As such, Google's constant battle with the actual methodology and motives of those reporting significant levels of click fraud will again be front and center here. Is Fair Isaac inflating its estimates with an ulterior motive in tow? Google probably thinks that, as Fair Isaac sees a new "fraud prevention" business model ripe for exploit here. Or, does it?

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) reiterated what it has said for quite some time at its annual shareholders meeting yesterday: it isn't nearly as interested in large acquisitions (too late) as some think it is and likes buying small startup companies.

Add to that the propensity of Google management to want to "partner" with content sites on the web (and other places) instead of buying content companies, you've got the thrust of the meeting.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that recent large acquisitions from Google weren't done as a response to some competitive threat, but more to fill holes in Google's product portfolio. I think it's both -- Google is trying to compete better in the segments where it operates while establishing new advertising beachheads ("filling in product holes").

And no -- Google won't be buying Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) or any other content company, according to Schmidt. Google co-founder Larry Page added to the discussion as well, and the general feel from Google's meeting for shareholders is that the company wants to partner with anyone who creates good content and who has an audience or can build one.

What does partnering solve for Google? Well, it lets the company sell advertising across every partnership and become -- as I've said many times before -- the largest advertising network the world has ever seen. And, Google will get a cut of every ad viewed, listened to or clicked on.