text: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Google Inc. is maintaining the support of Wall Street analysts despite a new report showing a continued decline in the growth of paid clicks on the company's site.
  Late Tuesday, comScore Inc. issued a report showing that paid clicks at Google GOOG, +0.94% grew 3% in March compared with the same period last year. For the first quarter, the paid-click growth rate was only 1.8% compared with the previous year -- which represents a sharp slowdown from the 25% growth rate in the previous quarter.
  Paid clicks refer to the number of times Google users click on an ad-sponsored link, which is the company's main driver of revenue.
  Shares of Google dipped in morning trading despite an upswing across the tech sector that was fueled by strong results at chipmaker Intel Corp. However, the stock turned up by midday, and was last up 1.8% to $454.66.
  The once high-flying stock has shed about 20% of its value since the company's fourth-quarter earnings report on Jan. 31. In that report, the company first disclosed a slowdown in the growth of paid-clicks, which was blamed on quality improvement initiatives designed to prevent accidental clicks. See previous story.
  Following the latest comScore numbers, several analysts on Wednesday admitted that the slowdown in paid clicks could impact Google's earnings for the first quarter, which will be released Thursday afternoon. But they mostly stuck by their bullish views on the company.
  "If the comScore data is correct, then the cause is mostly due to quality initiatives instituted by Google rather than just slowing economic trends impacting online advertising," Robert Peck of Bear Stearns wrote in a report to clients.
  Peck added, however, that "we have not ruled out the latter."
  Mark Mahaney of Citigroup also said the paid-click slowdown "could imply a risk to [first-quarter] estimates," but said other metrics are not yet bearing that out.
  "The disconnect is that this type of step-function deceleration should show up as a material fall-off in leads to Search Engine Marketers and channel checks remain generally positive," Mahaney wrote in a report.
  Rob Sanderson of American Technology Research noted that sentiment has largely turned negative around the stock, while at least 16 brokers have trimmed back their earnings targets for Google over the past two months.
  "With the parade of estimate revisions and correction in the stock, expectations are considerably lower going into the report on Thursday," Sanderson wrote in a note, in which he maintained a buy rating and $750 price target on the shares.
  Paid clicks will be a focus for Google's first-quarter report on Thursday, as analysts look for signs on how the slowing economy might affect the company's business. Wall Street currently expects revenue to grow by 42% for the quarter while earnings per share is expected to increase by 24%, according to estimates. See full story.