Google: Paid click decline was intentional; YouTube ads to increase

Google executives said that concerns about the company's paid click rate was overblown and added that they planned to "dial up" advertising on YouTube.

Google's Tim Armstrong, president of advertising and commerce in North America, said that the decline in paid click rates were to do a focus on ad quality. Google shares were whacked on concerns about the most recent data from comScore. However, Armstrong noted that the changes created a better consumer experience because they saw better targeted ads.

"We have a clear drive that a consumer should see really good ads," said Armstrong, speaking at a Bear Stearns media conference in Palm Beach, Fla. "The outside world looked at that change as not healthy for Google, (but) advertisers got increased conversion. For us we looked at that as a positive change."

However, Armstrong did note that "search is changing overall in general" and rides shotgun with macroeconomic conditions. You could read those comments as an acknowledgment that Google isn't recession proof.

Among other topics:

• Google has no intention to develop its own content, according to David Eun, vice president content partnerships at Google.
• Google is taking its time commercializing YouTube in an effort to keep users happy. However, Google will "dial up" the amount of video on YouTube. Armstrong added that YouTube could deliver substantial display ad monetization.
• The company's system won't differentiate between search and display ads over time. Google's general theme is to offer advertisers a complete dashboard with multiple forms of advertising. Its ad system will reflect that, said Armstrong.
• Social networking advertising is now viewed as a platform more than a regular ad-supported site, said Armstrong. In a nutshell, that means Google will deliver ads on social networks via widgets and social networking apps.