It is not just the size of mobile screens that poses the web search giant with a problem, however. People who use smartphones, whether they are Apple iPhones or alternative devices that depend on Google's Android operating system, often use apps to look for information rather than going via Google's search engine.
Online retailers like Amazon and eBay, or music streaming site Spotify all feature search functions, and analysts raised fears that there is a "secular shift" as users head straight for these to save time. Certainly, Google is conscious of this change in behaviour, prompting it to buy the American review site, Zagat, last year. If users are going to head straight for the apps, Google wants to own those too.
Google argues that, thanks to its Android operating system and its market-leading position, nobody is better placed to make money from search, wherever it happens. And it's true that Android allows the business to embed chances to monetise users at every opportunity. But as Facebook has found out to its cost, it's a tricky proposition, however it's handled. As their already troubled shares fell again yesterday, it was clear that markets lack confidence in technology stock whose outlook changes faster than in any other sector.
"We have been saying this thing was ripe for a pullback," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners. "Click prices declined for the fourth consecutive quarter after rising for eight consecutive quarters before then. That's a negative. This is the mobile problem."
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