Google Press Statement

I didn't offer any real commentary on Google (GOOG) in my daily column since I hadn't been able to track down any accurate reports of what Google actually said. I see now that Google has just issued a press statement that "clarifies" what they had said or supposedly said. I'll read it in the morning to digest it more fully. I suspect that people grossly overreacted to a gross mis-reporting of some overly-casual comments. That's so typical for Wall Street and illustrates why you should ponder information after "sleeping on it" rather than acting on it in a knee-jerk manner. Here's the core of Google's press release:

We would like to clarify and provide further information on these statements. As we have stated before, monetization improvements will continue to be a key factor in driving future revenue growth. We still see significant opportunities to improve monetization and intend to continue to focus our efforts in this area.

Moreover, as we have stated in our SEC filings, our revenue growth rate has generally declined over time and we expect that it will continue to do so as a result of the difficulty of maintaining growth rates on a percentage basis as our revenues increase to higher levels.

What could be simpler? Answer: On Wall Street, nothing is simple.

----

Please read our Stock Market Outlook for 2006 and our Daily Stock Market Commentary.

-- Jack Krupansky