Large Google investor cuts stake amid shift to cheaper searches

[SAN FRANCISCO] One of Google Inc's largest investors has cut its exposure to the company by nearly 29 per cent over the past several months amid worries about a shift to cheaper searches on mobile phones.

The US$107 billion Fidelity Contrafund has cut its exposure to Google to 5.2 per cent of net assets, as of Jan 31. That's down from 7.3 per cent of net assets as of June 30.

"The firm continued to do phenomenally innovative things, but it is fighting a shift away from desktop search to less-expensive searches on mobile phones," Fidelity Investments portfolio manager Will Danoff said in Contrafund's annual report, released on Feb 28th.

REUTERS