Google CEO says optimistic about 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG.O) sees revenue coming from a growing range of businesses and also international expansion, fueling optimism about the year ahead, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Thursday.

"We're optimistic about 2008. We have growing revenue streams across a broad range of verticals and markets," Schmidt, who is also the company's chairman, told analysts on a conference call following Google's quarterly earnings report.

Chief Financial Officer George Reyes said on the same call that the 51 percent growth in Google's fourth-quarter revenue reflected strong growth across its three main businesses: Web search, online advertising and Web-based software applications it has nicknamed "apps."

However, he said Google is having trouble making inroads selling advertising into what is now the hottest market on the Internet -- social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

"We have found social networking inventory is not monetizing as well as expected," he cautioned.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard in San Francisco and Michele Gershberg in New York; Editing by Braden Reddall)