Is Google losing its innovative edge?

Full disclosure - I'm not a Google hater but I have often wondered why everyone seems to think that the company walks on water. Google's search engine still drives the lion's share of the company's revenue and the myriad of other Google products have yet to fully deliver on their promise in terms of revenue and user adoption.

So it was with great interest that I read Fred Wilson's take on Google's lack of innovation when it comes to products created in-house. He argues that the last great product Google create on its own (vs. through acquisition) was Gmail and that was six years ago. There's no doubt that Google has incredible talent - they just need to develop new products that are embraced by the marketplace and make money for the company so that Google isn't so dependent on search revenue. The online world is littered with the remains of too many companies that had one or two really great ideas that made a lot of money for a time, but eventually were overtaken by other more innovative firms or new trends.

So Google - build good products, innovate, execute. Don't become the next AOL.