Google comes up short of analysts' expectations

The economy got to Google, too.

The Internet search giant reported strong revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter, but said it was stung by lower-than expected returns from advertising on social networks. Its revenue fell below analysts' expectations, and Wall Street responded with a massive after-hours sell-off of the stock.

The quarter proved that Google (GOOG) "has the same weakness everyone else is seeing," says Jane Snorek, an analyst at First American Funds, a mutual fund that holds Google shares. "It's a consumer company that had weakness in travel and financials. No one was looking for vacations or a mortgage in the fourth quarter, and that hurt Google."

Google reported revenue of $3.3 billion, after paying out commissions and other fees, while analysts expected $3.47 billion. "Google's never missed (analysts' expectations for) revenues before," Snorek says


http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/earnings/2008-01-31-google_N.htm