Google announced earnings today slightly lower than expected. Earnings per share came in at $8.08, below the $8.11 consensus estimate of Wall Street estimates. Revenues, however, rose by 27 percent in the quarter to $8.6 billion. Net income of $2.3 billion was up 15 percent. Larry Page started off the call, blandly stating that everything is working "as expected" with the management transition. He is "very excited about Google and our momentum" and gave shout-outs to Eric Schmidt and exiting product chief Jonathan Rosenberg who "we will clearly miss." And then he handed the call over to CFO Patrick Pichette. Operating expenses were up, largely because of increased payroll. The talent wars seem to be taking their toll on Google.