Photos: Google's Euro charm offensive

Google's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, was on hand to answer questions about wider strategy, including some hard questioning on the company's stance on censorship. Google was heavily criticised for launching a censored version of its search site in China.

Schmidt acknowledged that it had been a difficult choice for the company but that doing business with China had opened up a channel of communication and was better than Google completely depriving Chinese citizens of the opportunity to access its services.

The Google boss added that YouTube could also help to break down information barriers by allowing so-called citizen journalists to bypass state-run media operations. "We look forward to YouTube being filled with video of what is happening in the world rather than want stakeholders want to show," he said.

Schmidt cited the example of a TV station in Venezuela that had been banned by the government of Hugo Chavez but had got around the censorship by posting its content on YouTube. However, when asked by a journalist what Google would do if the Chavez government asked for the content to be removed, Schmidt acknowledged that the company would have to consider the request if the content in question violated an explicit and existing written law.