Google did well on the cash-flow side of things. Don't get me wrong: cash flow is down. The company took in $1.6 billion from operations this past quarter versus roughly $1.8 billion in the comparable quarter. There was a big drop, however, in capital spending. Therefore, more free cash flow was available to the business. Defending free cash is always a good thing (although some will argue that an appropriate level of capital spending should also be considered, not just growth in the green stuff).

As Tom Johansmeyer pointed out in his preview, perhaps the salient plot point of the Google story these days is the new competition on the block: I speak of the Bing search asset from Microsoft, of course. Mister Softee has so far done a good job in marketing the product. Nevertheless, as Brian White recently observed, Google remains a major force in search. One thing that Google still needs to address is YouTube and the holy grail of monetization. Come on, guys, step it up on this issue! According to Reuters, Google management is saying that profitability will indeed happen in the not-too-distant future. I don't find the company's comments particularly compelling, and I'm sure shareholders are becoming impatient when it comes to the popular content site.

Google had a decent Q2, and I would maybe look at the stock on a pullback. It was down well over 3% in yesterday's after-hours session. Was this merely profit-taking, or was the market really disappointed by the news? Personally, I think some investors were cashing in gains. Shares of Google have risen almost 38% since the beginning of the year. It would be understandable to see a little bit of weakness at this point. Going forward, Google should continue to be a leader in search algorithms and remain an interesting trade idea.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.