For the second straight month, comScore has had bad news for Google. In February, the metrics firm reported that Google's January paid clicks dropped by 7 percent. Now, comScore is reporting that Google's February numbers are up by a meager 3 percent, according to Reuters.

While paid clicks -- Google's main source of ad revenue -- are largely a question for investors, many people who follow digital have come to see Google as a barometer for the overall health of the interactive advertising industry.

Reading a Bloomberg report, the sentiment on Wall Street seems to be that the U.S. economy, advertising and Google are all weaker than expected. But it's not clear if that sentiment should be shared by those who work with Google, according to Adam Ostrow of Mashable, who wrote that monthly paid clicks numbers should only matter to investors. 

For its part, Google has declined to comment on the numbers, although in the past, company executives did point out that the search giant has continued to refine its advertising programs. In some cases, those refinements have meant increasing click relevance at the expense of total clicks.