I would say the problem is that you divulged technical details before getting a written "intent to acquire" from google.
While keeping the line of communication is important, it's also important to ensure it's worth your time.
While keeping the line of communication is important, it's also important to ensure it's worth your time.
He clearly mentions how he discusses how he routed around browser editing/DOM manipulation to Google, and then a similar approach was taken by Google later in their product.
Google is not all about stealing ideas, but they certainly will if it benefits them. They are probably going to end up taking the crown from Microsoft for mediocre implementations of others good ideas, just by virtue of their size (and still growing) and their reach.