• John Battelle's Searchblog, Wednesday, January 23, 2008 11:33 AM

Google's stock has dropped more than 160 points since peaking at $750 per share in early November. "Right now, Wall Street isn't in love with Google, or any other stock, for that matter," says Battelle. Indeed, "that's not something we're used to hearing." Google in early morning trading was hovering even lower, at around $560.

Why the slide? Perhaps it's the latest search numbers from Nielsen Online, which said that Microsoft gained nearly 2 percent on Google Search last month. But more than likely it has to do with the economy at large. The [Google] culture is taking its first deep breath.

In his 2008 outlook, Battelle forecasted that Wall Street would become disillusioned with Google. He suggests that the company might be spreading itself too thin in Wall Street's eyes by investing heavily in new sectors like health, energy, telecom and IT software. Indeed, Wall Street might already be thinking that Google should concentrate more on areas where profits are secure, i.e. AdSense and AdWords.

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