A report released by comScore released late Monday revealed that Google’s paid clicks, the number of times Web users clicked on an ad-supported links, fell 7% in January from the previous month.

The report also showed that the number of clicks was relatively flat compared to the same period last year.

Google had indicated concerns about paid clicks in its four-quarter results. Another issue is the phenomenon of “click fraud,” clicks on an advertisement done by a competitor to increase their rival’s ad bill.

The report led to Google shares trading down more than $22 on Tuesday, to close the day at $464.19, after hitting a near year-low of $446.85.

However, a few critics were skeptical of the results of the report, including RBC Capital Markets analyst Jordan Rohan:

"Investors' fear over weak paid-click data from comScore is overblown," he wrote, adding that "while the market is solely focused on volume [of paid clicks], revenue-per-search improvements may mitigate volume declines."

Newspapers’ online ad revenue has continued to steadily rise over the past year.

Source: MarketWatch