Ironically that might not be such a bad idea. If the assumption is that Google is unlikely to make further gains beyond online advertising, shareholders would g

Ironically that might not be such a bad idea. If the assumption is that Google is unlikely to make further gains beyond online advertising, shareholders would gain more profit in the long run by cutting the teams, and talented people might move to companies that are better at making money in the other areas. The problem is that upper management don't want to be the one declaring that they're giving up on growing the company. Especially that they have billions of dollars to spend/waste every year.