shareholder meetings

Some interesting Larry Page quotes coming out of Google’s annual shareholder meeting from yesterday afternoon, courtesy of a Cowen and Company analyst Jim Friedland. Page is adamant to prevent his company from losing focus due to a Soviet-like bureaucracy which destroyed Nokia. The new CEO is going to re-create the startup culture at Google and ensure that the vast majority of resources are poured into search and advertising.

“We’re not betting the farm on speculative technology projects”, he said, adding there was still “a tremendous opportunity” in increasing ad relevance. Page told Wall Street analysts and shareholders that Google is committed to making money from free products, specifically citing Android as an example. He then switched into the “Moon shots” talk:

Our goal is to aim high to achieve important things to continue to grow this company.

So, at Google the Sun is still revolving around search, search, search (and ads, ads, ads). In that respect, Android is increasingly looking like the biggest growth opportunity in the long run…

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If you run a blog or own a site that runs Google ads, you are no doubt aware of the frustrations stemming from having to deal with Google’s support staff via email only. And if your living depends on that advertising revenue, getting someone to resolve your issue in a timely manner becomes a matter of life and death. Relax, you will soon be able to pick up the phone and yell at Google.

Fielding questions from Wall Street analysts and investors at the company’s annual shareholder meeting yesterday afternoon, Google’s senior vice president of advertising Susan Wojcicki announced the arrival of customer support for advertisers and publishers via phone:

Within the next quarter we’re moving to allow [publishers and advertisers] to contact Google by phone [for customer support].

She also underscored that Google is one of the largest display advertising providers in China, adding that the company “helps Chinese advertisers reach global markets”.