Trading suspended for a couple of hours, but still ends up 8% down. I bet there's some happy webmasters out there.
Most of the really bad numbers came from Motorola. The "core" Google numbers weren't bad at all, below expectation, but only just. The only potentially worrying one for G is the average CPC, down about 15%, as ad budget shifts to other platforms, reducing upward pressure on prices. Even that is likely to be a relatively short termn effect
It's xmas soon, business will be using adwords to get the sales, new businesses will be using the recent £/$100 vouchers and will be topping up in time for xmas, more businesses turning to adwords because their 'natural' rankings have plummeted.
I'm sure the next quarter will see profits through the roof. It's what normally happens for them.
>below expectation, but only just.
They've gotten tighter about what they let through their PPC program. I have to wonder what type of impact that is having on their bottom-line.
Damn. And there was me hoping Google was finally getting some kind of payback for screwing over the small webmasters who made them.
It could still happen Brian. What if that ad budget that has been shifted turns out to make a better return elsewhere? A 15% slide in avg CPC for a few quarters in a row, and G are toast. Their share price has always reflected the monster sums they are expected to make *one day*. If it turns out they have already peaked it won't be pretty