Although all companies go through litigation, this is starting to feel more and more like the same process Microsoft went through with IE - core business, varied legal action at state, federal, and international level, and business practices that can be painted as suspect, with lots of small business owners that can be put into the press as victims. Add into that a press-worth corporate tagline of "Do no evil", and this will, over time, get a fair amount of attention.

Could this be the Achilles heel for Google? The Microsoft lawsuit was a huge drain of both cash, brand, an intellectual capital from the company. It will be interesting to see if this series of litigation has a similar effect.