"Google Silences Critics," says one headline. That seems to be the prevailing reaction to the company's recent announcement that it wound up beating expectations. Fine. Except two months ago, Google sounded a warning that it expected worse, not better, results.

It's nice when things turn out okay, but why the sudden turnaround? Much of Google's revenue is advertising-based. It's not like they rolled out a new product and swarms of customers piled in the door in the last two months. These advertising deals are relatively steady over a number of months. Two months should not make a difference.

Between this and the sloppiness in preparing for its IPO, Google seems to be a company that does not have a particularly tight grip on how it channels information. This time, the surprise was positive. Next time I wouldn't be so sure.