Hail mighty Google (we can’t help ourselves)

Google pundits and the dot-com cheer squad are reaching new heights today with news of the search titan’s jump into the IPO deep end.

When I searched for “Google IPO,” Google News returned 1,680 results. Yup, we’ve gone nuts on the subject.

Bloggers and news organizations are applauding the company’s engineering success, marveling at how Sergei and Larry will become instant billionaires, and hope it’s a sign of a return to Silicon Valley boom times.

Most significant to me is the fact that Google’s coming of age on Wall Street further validates the rise of web-only properties. Yahoo, eBay, Amazon, and Google are not just online companies, but businesses that act as platforms for a range of applications and services that extend well beyond the “core” product.

This chart from CNN Money puts the Google money hype in perspective, but it’s also a visual reminder that these companies represent the online utility model of computing that’s replaced the PC wave.

Some other links:

Wired has an easy to digest overview of the filing and Google’s intentions,

Forbes is one of the few media outlets to step outside the knee-jerk breathless reporting mould and focus on Google’s honesty about the risks facing the company, thanks to a Reuters report.

FT has the full text of Sergei and Larry’s letter.