Google's woes extend to Microsoft's backyard

Google's attempt to make a big move into Microsoft's backyard appear to be failing --- because of Google's economic woes, the company has been forced to try and sublease one entire building and part of another in its Kirkland, Washington campus, just up the street from Microsoft headquarters.

Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times reports that Google is trying to sublease 78,000 square feet in the 195,000-square-foot campus in Kirkland. At the moment, the entire three-building complex is empty, although Dudley reports that Google plans to occupy a "portion" of the campus in 2009.

That's just one more sign among a number of others that Google is falling on hard times. Google's stock price has tanked worse than the rest of the stock market, and there are many forecasts that search revenue may fall sharply this coming year.

Does this mean that Google is in trouble? Hardly. It's still flush with cash and dominates the search market.

It does mean, though, that Google's days of unlimited growth may be over. And the fact that it's trying to sublease space in its Kirkland office is a potent symbol of that. The company's move onto Microsoft's home turf was probably more a symbolic move more than one driven by economic necessity. The fact that it's cutting back so much there is another symbol that perhaps its reach exceeds its grasp. Here's how Dudley sums it up:

...the massive, gleaming new Google North campus on Sixth Street in Kirkland will remain -- a half-empty monument to the company's golden era and hubris.