Google pushes 600mm server farm out to 2010, Tuesday Tea also cancelled

Google continues to clamp down on spending.

A 600 million dollar Tulsa, OK server farm planned for early 2009 has been pushed back to some time in 2010.

Brin still thinks you're all a bunch of spoiled brats, Googlers. Valleywag had this item a couple of days ago. Tuesday Tea is suspended, meal hours are shortened, dinner is not to be served "to go". The horror.

They're focused on very small things (controlling perks) and that almost always means the big things are getting much harder. Expedia today on their conference call said cost per click is declining. That's what I'm worried about -- rate cuts in the advertising business. There's simply no way real estate, mortgages, financial products and automobiles can be getting slammed like this without some kind of notable impact on ad rates and keyword pricing. Amorphous as it is, keywords are an asset like anything else and they're going to be worth less in a slower economy. I think Google knows it, too, and they're trying to cut fat as quickly as possible as the top line moderates.