The Google Debate And Why Ads Rule Everything Around Me GOOGL

I won’t bury the disclosure, I own GOOG with a cost basis of $198 which I believe at time or purchase was in the 24 to 25x trailing earnings. So read this as someone with a biased long, and not wanting to pay Uncle Sam their “fair share” of my capital gains and grappling with the buy, sell, hold dilemma.

And before proceeding, know that I love what a dear friend of mine once called, constructive combat. Read as, dissenting with a friend or debating without malice. Or put another way, the timeless art of civil disagreement.

So Kim’s piece to me was interesting and the argument, if I’m understanding it, was a secular short based on culture. Kim will likely forget more about model architecture than I’ll ever learn; make no mistake the technology lane is his and he’s sharp in it. And I owe Tae a beer for writing The Nvidia Way, because I thought it was awesome. My lens however is simpler, I’m an investor first. What does a business earn on the capital it reinvests and what are you paying for it. Simpler in some ways, but harder for sure.

Opens September 5, 2026

The GOOGL research is open in the Terminal.

The full GOOGL work-up is in the Terminal now, with the durability test and the verdict. This essay itself publishes to everyone on September 5, 2026 — a scheduled release, not a sign-in wall.

GOOGL research