Google has become the dominant player in the Web search and advertising market largely without a big TV ad budget.

But the Mountain View, California company broke with tradition and bought a one-minute Super Bowl spot which ran during the second half of the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, won 31-17 by the Saints.

"We didn't set out to do a Super Bowl ad, or even a TV ad for search," Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said in a blog post late Sunday.

"Our goal was simply to create a series of short online videos about our products and our users, and how they interact," Schmidt said.

"But we liked this video so much, and it's had such a positive reaction on YouTube, that we decided to share it with a wider audience," he said.

The ad, called "Parisian Love," has been on YouTube for three months.

It features a Web surfer typing questions into the iconic Google search box, starting with queries about studying abroad in France and ending with "How to assemble a crib."

The video has been viewed more than 1.67 million times on Google-owned YouTube.