For a company that made its name in search, Google sure took its time finding a new chief financial officer, telecommunications executive Patrick Pichette.

Pichette succeeds George Reyes, who shepherded Google through its 2004 initial public offering and announced in August that he would leave the Internet giant.

"It took over a year to find George," he (Schmidt) added.

Said Google co-founder Larry Page: "We're picky."