Google results 2013 top Street view – Google’s First Quarter Earnings Rise 16% Beat Wall Street Estimates
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SAN FRANCISCO — Google’s (GOOG) latest quarterly results provided
further proof that the Internet search leader is figuring out how to
make more money as Web surfers migrate from personal computers to mobile
devices.Google’ first-quarter earnings report, which arrives after the
market closes Thursday, is likely to reveal how effectively the company
is managing its dominance of the Internet search market as it expands
into the mobile device market.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The results cover the first three months of the year, a time when Internet advertising tails off after the traditional holiday marketing frenzy. But that doesn’t prevent Google from growing at an impressive clip for a company of its size. Google’s ad sales, its main moneymaker, are expected to rise by nearly 20 percent from the same time last year, based on analysts’ estimates. Most of the gains flow from Google’s leadership of Internet search, where it handles about two of every three requests for online information.
Google’s ability to keep growing has given the company a market value of nearly $260 billion, second only to Apple Inc. among technology companies. Google’s stock price has climbed by more than 10 percent so far this year, slightly better than the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
Assuming Google’s ad growth is in range of forecasts, watch for how investors react to several other factors. One of the biggest keys will be the average price Google gets for ads running alongside search results. That rate, known as advertisers’ “cost per click,” has fallen from the previous year in five consecutive quarters. The erosion has been driven by an audience that is increasingly using smartphones and tablet computers — devices that don’t yet command as high a price as ads on the larger screens of laptop and desktop computers.
The first-quarter numbers released Thursday show that a recent decline in Google’s average ad prices is easing. The trend indicates that marketers are starting to pay more for the ads that Google distributes to smartphones and tablet computers. Mobile ads so far have fetched less money than those viewed on the larger screens of laptop and desktop computers.
But a growing number of people are clicking on mobile ads as they increasingly connect to Internet services on smartphones and tablets, driving down average price paid for a marketing link. Google’s average price, or the “cost per click” to advertisers, has fallen from the previous year in six consecutive quarters, including the opening three months of the year.
The latest decrease in average ad prices was 4 percent. By comparison, Google’s average ad price fell by 6 percent during the final three months of last year and by 12 percent during last year’s first quarter.
Google earned $3.3 billion, or $9.94 per share, during the opening three months of the year. That was a 16 percent increase from $2.9 billion, or $8.75 per share, last year.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The results cover the first three months of the year, a time when Internet advertising tails off after the traditional holiday marketing frenzy. But that doesn’t prevent Google from growing at an impressive clip for a company of its size. Google’s ad sales, its main moneymaker, are expected to rise by nearly 20 percent from the same time last year, based on analysts’ estimates. Most of the gains flow from Google’s leadership of Internet search, where it handles about two of every three requests for online information.
Google’s ability to keep growing has given the company a market value of nearly $260 billion, second only to Apple Inc. among technology companies. Google’s stock price has climbed by more than 10 percent so far this year, slightly better than the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
Assuming Google’s ad growth is in range of forecasts, watch for how investors react to several other factors. One of the biggest keys will be the average price Google gets for ads running alongside search results. That rate, known as advertisers’ “cost per click,” has fallen from the previous year in five consecutive quarters. The erosion has been driven by an audience that is increasingly using smartphones and tablet computers — devices that don’t yet command as high a price as ads on the larger screens of laptop and desktop computers.
The first-quarter numbers released Thursday show that a recent decline in Google’s average ad prices is easing. The trend indicates that marketers are starting to pay more for the ads that Google distributes to smartphones and tablet computers. Mobile ads so far have fetched less money than those viewed on the larger screens of laptop and desktop computers.
But a growing number of people are clicking on mobile ads as they increasingly connect to Internet services on smartphones and tablets, driving down average price paid for a marketing link. Google’s average price, or the “cost per click” to advertisers, has fallen from the previous year in six consecutive quarters, including the opening three months of the year.
The latest decrease in average ad prices was 4 percent. By comparison, Google’s average ad price fell by 6 percent during the final three months of last year and by 12 percent during last year’s first quarter.
Google earned $3.3 billion, or $9.94 per share, during the opening three months of the year. That was a 16 percent increase from $2.9 billion, or $8.75 per share, last year.
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