Gruber gets it exactly backwards here. Google is pushing Android exactly because it needs to mitigate the impact of moves like Apple's iAds. Google goal is protecting its search business from a potentially hostile monopoly, not killing Apple's phone business. Would it be smart of Google to sit on the sidelines while Apple becomes totally dominant in the mobile computing market and to trust Apple to leave all the money it could then make from advertising on the table?

It's interesting how profoundly the backgrounds of the company founders affect corporate strategy. Steve is fundamentally a salesman and thinks in terms of products. Google's heads are engineers and think first about platforms and protocols. Last time these two philosophies clashed Apple leaped out ahead but eventually lost to a cheaper, commodifiable platform. I expect this time will be no different.