tomorrow NQ will be bloody.
By Eric Auchard
SAN FRANCISCO, March 26 (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) showed
modest growth during February in a closely watched report released
on Wednesday on how search sites like Google get paid by
advertisers, and its shares fell 3.2 percent.
Web measurement firm comScore Inc issued a monthly report on
"paid clicks" -- a key measure of how Web searchers are converted
into ad viewers -- that showed Google's paid click rate grew 3.1
percent year-to-year in February, sources said.
Flat year-over-year growth by Google on the same basis in
comScore's January report, which was released in late February,
led to an 8 percent one-day drop in Google's stock the day
afterward and a fierce Wall Street debate on whether revenue
growth is slowing or if Google's own actions are to blame.
Lurking behind this discussion is investor concern that
Google's growth in terms of paid clicks has slowed from around 30
percent to 40 percent six months ago, raising the prospect that
the economy is to blame for some of Google's slowdown.
"You can't avoid the trend. Something that was humming along
at 40 percent is now near zero: Something is going on there.
Especially when the economy is getting a little twitchy," said RBC
Capital analyst Ross Sandler. Last week he cut his 12-month price
target on Google to a Street-low-level of $530.
ComScore declined to comment on the report, saying it
publishes the data for use by clients, which include companies in
the advertising industry and Wall Street brokerages, which use the
statistics to gauge Google's quarterly revenue trends.
Shares of Google fell $14.52 to $443.67 in extended trade on
Wednesday after the release of comScore's latest click data. The
fall erased a $7.41 gain in the Nasdaq regular session. |