Google's decision to resist a Justice Department subpoena for data on what people search for on the Web once again puts the company in a contrary position to its biggest competitors.

While America Online, Microsoft and Yahoo! this week revealed they have complied in part with the request for an entire week of search data, Google has refused -- not on the grounds of protecting its user's privacy, but on grounds that the government's request overreaches. The Justice Department suggests that Google believes it would be disclosing trade secrets if it disclosed the information requested.

When search companies and other organizations that track or collect data issue their privacy policies, they usually include a clause that allows them to give the data to the government under subpoena and Google's privacy policy is no different, said David Gurwin, of the Downtown law firm Buchanan Ingersoll.

But being allowed to share the information legally doesn't mean that Google users want the company to share it -- and Mountain View, Calif.-based Google seems to understand that. "If the perception is that Google doesn't value the privacy of its users, Internet users will be less likely to use Google services," Mr. Gurwin said.