I really don't think reasonable people hate Google outright. Most of the criticism you see aims to bring the discussion about the company back into the relm of reality. To understate the point, Google carries itself with a grossly overinflated sense of accomplishment. Larry and Sergy could crap in a SOAP envelope and the press would eat it up (not literally, mind you). The Google CES keynote was a good example.
The fact is, Google is a great company, but they've really done spectacularly in a handful of their endeavors. In my mind, the search engine and the ad engine are probably their biggest competive strengths, yet neither of those lead by insurmountable margins. (I also prefer Blogger to Spaces, but that's more a difference in target markets.)