Monday, April 24, 2006

Google Surprise

Late last week, Google released its latest performance figures. Yeah, search is big, but nobody was expecting this big. First quarter profits rose 60 percent to $592 million, and total revenue for the period exceeded $2 billion for the first time in Google’s history. Google has only been around seven years and they are well on their way to annual revenues that could hit $10 billion. Google stock, which had closed at $415/share before the announcement, hit $450 on Friday and closed the day at $437.

This financial milestone comes on the heels of a recent Nielsen/NetRatings report that shows Google is widening the gap between its closest search competitors. According to Nielsen, Google had over 48 percent of all searches in February compared to 22 percent for Yahoo and about 11 percent for MSN.

In spite of huge revenue growth at Google, the average keyword bid on search engines has remained steady. Based on research released last week at Fathom Online, the current average is $1.39 per keyword, and it has risen only 1.4 percent since September of 2004.

Google’s growth has come through incredibly high margins and what appears to be an almost insatiable diversification and expansion strategy. A quick look at this Simple Google (via BL Ochman) page will give you a comprehensive view of all things Google. It’s impressive.

Found in Business • General • Internet • Media • Online Marketing • Search • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink http://www.sundog.net/index.php/sunblog/entry/google-suprise/

Like this post? Subscribe to our RSS feed.