Didn't Google mostly live on VC money during that period? If they did I think it is probably fair to call Google out as having always been an advertising company. I think what made Google function for a long time after 2000 was the fact that they managed to keep their advertising business and their products fairly separate. The big downfall began when people like Ben Gomes lost to Venkataraman. Venkataraman who's now infamous for ruining both Yahoo and Google Search... But Venkataraman's recent "promotion" isn't exactly something that should bring us much hope though. Not considering that he's being replaced by an actual McKinsey spreadsheet.