Google's slowdown worries investors

Google's top executives say all is well at the Internet search leader despite a rare earnings disappointment, but investors are worried something is amiss.

Concerns about how the feeble U.S. economy might affect Google contributed to a nearly 20 percent decline in the company's stock during January.

And now it looks like February will begin on a sour note.

Google shares dropped by more than 6 percent from their Thursday closing price of $564.30 after the company released fourth-quarter results that missed analysts' expectations.

Google earned $1.21 billion, or $3.79 per share, during the final three months of 2007 -- a 17 percent improvement over net income of $1.03 billion, or $3.29 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

It was the first time Google's quarterly profit has climbed by less than 25 percent since the Mountain View-based company went public nearly three and a half years ago.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/02/01/google.earnings.ap/index.html