• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 9, 2009

Google probably would like to ignore the fiasco surrounding Monopoly City Streets that caused Parker Bros. to overload its servers after announcing this week that it would use Google Maps as an actual online game board. Or the flurry of last-minute filings centered on Google's book settlement that could alter plans to create the world's largest digital library. And let's not forget the attention sparked today by Google CEO Eric Schmidt's attendance at the Apple event in San Francisco after recently leaving the board.

While events similar to these could inadvertently sway Google's stock price one way or another, some Wall Street analysts believe today's Webcast geared toward investors should have little impact on the quantity bought and sold.

Aside from the hoopla created this week by Google mania, plans to educate investors have been well underway for some time. On Wednesday, the Mountain View, Calif. company held a Webcast to run through some recent statistical findings and upgrades to its search engine, mobile, AdWords and AdSense platforms.

Referred to internally as "The Hug" because the ads hug the search results, Nick Fox -- director of business product management at Google -- says that during the middle of the third quarter, Google moved text ads from the right rail toward the middle closer to the search results.

Since screens have become wider and resolution increased, the search engine query results page had a large "white gulf in the middle between the search results and the ads," Fox says. This appeared to provide a poor user experience because the person had to move their eyes from the right to the left.

Impacting the future of search begins with the "explosion" of Internet users coming online, according to Susan Wojcicki, vice president of product management at Google, who notes "there's been no recession in information." Google receives about 20% of queries never before seen. About 10 petabytes of new information is generated each day. Speed has become critical when it comes to search behavior. Google found that increasing the speed of search nearly doubles the queries in Google Maps.

In a note to investors, Imran Khan wrote: "Google analytics and Web site optimizer can increase ad spend." Google analytics measure how long visitors stay at a Web site, what they view, and conversion. He explains that search benchmarking compares an advertiser's search performance with overall search performance in the vertical. The map overlay tool shows the geographic location of the traffic and the impact on revenue. "Traffic source tools help see which internet sites are a source of traffic," he writes. "Conversion tracking and funnel visualization can help indicate the best methods to attract visitors and behavior in Web site navigation."

Each quarter, Google adds about 90 innovations to search -- approximately one per day. At any given time, the company runs between 20 and 50 search experiments.

Mobile for Google has been a small but rapidly growing segment that will become important to search and monetization. Smartphones have been a key driver required to grow in mobile queries and revenue. But the way people search on smartphones is different than on the PC, providing an entrance into a variety of search and quick-response tools, such as click to call.

Ariel Bardin, product management director for AdWords, discusses tools and ways to find new keywords to help advertisers make better decisions to improve return on investment (ROI) in the Webcast. Notable features for advertisers in a variety of interfaces range from search-based keyword tools and better pricing platforms, such as a bid simulator that helps to determine the impact of lower or higher bids on clicks. The recently introduced bid simulator allows marketers to test the amount for keywords -- past, present and future, he says.

There are plans to introduce new ad formats. Google has been testing video ad formats in search engine results, similar to those tested by Yahoo on its search engine. Ad formats better-suited for mobile, video, picture, maps and local searches that may appear in video, still pictures or descriptions are also in the works.