Google shuns in-person analyst day, goes online

People ride their bikes past Google Inc. headquarters in Mountain View, California, May 8, 2008.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Analysts who were hoping to spend a sunny day on the Google Inc campus sprinkling questions about the monetization of new ad formats over an organic gourmet salad will have to settle for a series of webcasts.

The largest U.S. Internet search engine on Wednesday said it will turn to the Web this fall and winter to meet with investors and analysts in lieu of a traditional, on-site analyst day.

The first of the webcasts, which will focus on "search and monetization," is scheduled for September 9, ahead of rival Yahoo Inc's in-person October 28 analyst day.

"We felt having a series of webcasts on specific topics would be more dynamic and inclusive than a traditional analyst day, where shareholders must travel long distances and absorb everything in one sitting," said Google spokeswoman Jane Penner.

Penner said the new format would include a question and answer session using Google Moderator, which allows people to submit questions and vote on which ones should be asked.

One analyst speculated that Google's webcasts might be a response to last quarter's earnings day when shares fell after the company beat Street forecasts, but fell short of whisper numbers. The analyst said the firm might be seeking to check bullish estimates prior to current quarter earnings' release.

Another analyst said investors would be looking to the September webcast to focus on video and image-based ads, how Google will target top advertisers, and the company's plans for monetizing YouTube, its Chrome web browser and operating system and Android, its software development tool for mobile devices.

"Growth has ground down to 3 percent in the June quarter. What reignites growth? (Google) just had its fifth anniversary as a public company - how do we get back to 20 percent, 30 percent growth?" Brigatine Advisors analyst Colin Gillis asked.

Shares in the Mountain View, California-based company closed down 0.71 percent at $468 on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Clare Baldwin, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)