• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 16, 2010

Google shook up the financial community - or at least, the financial press community - this morning with an unconventional approach to announcing its first quarter earnings (see related story in today's Online Media Daily). Instead of publishing the results in an explicit press release via one of the major business news wires, as is the convention for most publicly traded companies, Google released a simple statement directing reporters, shareholders and other interested parties to the investors' page on its Web site for the complete earnings report.

It does not appear that Google violated any disclosure rules with the approach, but the move sent financial news reporters into a tizzy, sparking Reuters to proclaim, "Google 's Unorthodox Press Release Raises Questions".

"The statement posed a brief obstacle for the media, analysts and others hungry for Google's numbers," the financial news service wrote. "It may also suggest the company is headed down a road that could hurt companies that distribute press releases, and that some worry could disadvantage some investors."

The reaction is ironic, given the fact that Google's core mission is to help people find information online, and the fact that its mission statement reads: "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

This is not the first time that Google has shaken up Wall Street - and the financial press - by an unconventional approach to investor relations. In fact, when the company initially went public, it sold its shares directly to investors via a process known as a "Dutch auction," as opposed to syndicating it through a big investment banks as is the financial industry's norm.