Google is constantly improving its search systems, and Schmidt hinted that the company is getting more serious about semantic technology. It would allow Google engines to understand the meaning of queries, instead of just analyzing keywords, the basis of its current approach.

"Wouldn't it be nice if Google understood the meaning of your phrase, rather than just the words that are in the phrase? We have [done] a lot of discoveries in that area that are going to roll out [soon]," Schmidt said.

It also keeps fine-tuning its ad-serving technology to improve the relevance of the ads that it matches to queries and to external partner Web pages, he said. Google wants to apply the successes it has had with search PPC text ads to display ads, where it has been a nonplayer historically but where it plans to make a splash thanks to its DoubleClick acquisition.

Google also sees big opportunities in mobile ads and search with its Android platform, and remains committed to its Enterprise unit, which markets enterprise search appliances and hosted business software to organizations of all sizes.

Jonathan Rosenberg, senior vice president of product management, said Google continues to expand its universal search project, in which it increasingly mixes more search result types, such as news, videos, books and images, into its general Web search engine, instead of just providing regular Web page links.