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And so as a publicly owned, regulated, billion dollar corporation, it no longer make sense to commit unmeasured resources to support unmeasurable benefits.

What's the point of making a billion dollars if it doesn't let you work on interesting things that don't offer any obvious immediate payoffs?

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I believe as a public company, the only point of making a billion dollars is shareholder value, by law. Before they went public they could indulge their geek kink until they went blind.

I'm not saying Code Search doesn't (necessarily) contribute to shareholder value. But it sure has to be easier to make the case for something that can be measured, as opposed to "geek goodwill."

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