Fewer Clicks Are Better Clicks: Google

Google's share price took a big hit after quarterly results released last week showed the number of paid-for-clicks on advertising flattening out, but the company says the fall is actually good news, MarketWatch reports. Google bosses say the drop is all part of their plan to improve the quality of service by reducing the number of unintentional clicks.

"Conversions actually go up for advertisers, which is positive, but there are less clicks overall," said a top Google executive. The company also told a media conference it plans to "turn up the dial a bit" in putting ads on YouTube over the next year or so, and indicated it would do its best to capitalize on any uncertainty stemming from the proposed Yahoo-Microsoft merger. (More Google stories.)