Pity if you will poor old Google, which last week suffered a terrible shock when it discovered that a possible unholy alliance of Microsoft and Yahoo! might challenge its bid to control the known universe.

Quite what reaction the news prompted in the Googleplex we know not (although some furniture may have been Ballmered, we suspect), but here's concrete evidence that the search monolith is battening down the hatches against hard times ahead:

Yup, long gone are the days of getting paid ten-figure salaries to whizz round the Google compound on a Segway, stopping only to pick at the free gourmet buffet before putting in the odd 15 minutes' work en route to a team-building softball session. Ah well, it was good while it lasted... ®

20 comments posted — Comment period finished