Google shows off

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) invited the press and analysts yesterday to see just how well it is doing. Most people who attended were left with the impression that growth and innovation at the company are not slowing at all.

On the advertising front, according to Reuters, "Tim Armstrong, president of North American advertising sales, said every one of its top 100 advertising accounts was increasing spending with Google."

Google also said it was getting increased penetration of its Gmail and Apps products, both of them aimed at Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) desktop Windows franchise.

One interesting observation made by an analyst from Reuters is that Google did not show off many new products. What it did do was demonstrate improvements to current ones.

This may be a change of direction for the big search company, which has hit the market with everything from Google Earth to its own social network Orkut. Google still maintains its own Finance site for investors and an online retail shopping network.

With the ranks of its employees growing by more than 2,000 people a quarter, Google may have decided to pause and improve what it has. That could be a better way to make money than putting out a new product every week.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.