After Google's CFO, George Reyes, made comments that prompted a sell-off of Google stock earlier in the week (all he said was that sales growth rates would slow, given Google's size), the online behemoth was under pressure to reassure investors - and did so splendidly - writes the Times Online. Google's top leadership gave a super-upbeat presentation to analysts, saying the company would expand into every area of media and set as its objective revenues of $100 billion a year. Those remarks should worry many in the traditional media business.

Google said it aims to become a presence in every part of the $800 billion global advertising market - from television and radio to print and direct marketing. "We see ourselves in every one of those segments…. It will be possible in the next few years," Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO said.

Google execs said the company would increase sales by improving search engine and ad quality by investing in infrastructure and new technologies.

The stock gained after the presentation, going past $386 a share, up from below $340 earlier this week - but still 20 per cent off the $475 high earlier this year.

Google derives more than 97 percent of its revenue from search-related advertising. It has 40 percent of the U.S. market for web searches and 60-80 percent of most European markets, according to comScore.