Google Revenue Up 17% in Q4 2009

Google Revenue Up 17% in Q4 2009

Google has released its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2009 and the news is positive. Revenue for the Mountain View, CA -based company was up 17% compared to the fourth quarter of 2009, coming in at $6.67 billion.

“Given that the global economy is still in the early days of recovery, this was an extraordinary end to the year,” said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. “Our performance in 2009 underscored the strength of our management team, the resilience of our business model and the pace of innovation within our product and engineering teams, which continued unabated throughout the downturn.”

Here’s what contributed to Google’s success in Q4 2009:

• Aggregate paid clicks were up 13% year-over-year and up 9% from the third quarter of 2009.
• Average Cost-Per-Click was up 5% year-over-year and 2% quarter-over-quarter.
• Traffic Acquisition Costs (TAC) increased to $1.72 billion in Q4 2009 compared with $1.48 billion last year. TAC as a percentage of revenues held steady at 27%.
• The majority of TAC is paid to AdSense partners. In the fourth quarter, $1.47 billion of the $1.48 billion of TAC was paid to AdSense partners.

Google’s net income profit was $1.97 billion compared to $382 million last year. Adjusted net income was $2.19 billion compared to $1.62 billion last year.

“As we enter 2010, we remain hugely optimistic about the internet and are continuing to invest heavily in technological innovation for the benefit not only of our users and customers, but also the wider web,” said Schmidt.

Let’s hope Google’s numbers reflect a larger trend towards a healthy economic recovery.

The different interactive units of Internet marketing

The different interactive units of Internet marketing
Internet marketing is a complete business model made up of several independent parts. While each of the units that are part of an Internet marketing Strategy has an independent existence…

AOL Goes for Local with the Acquisition of Patch and Going

AOL Goes for Local with the Acquisition of Patch and Going

AOL is making local a core part of their business model. And it’s a worthy goal. Local searches grew 58% in 2008 and $103 billion will be spent on local advertising (both online and off) this year.

Still, the local search niche has a bit of an identity crisis. We’ve seen prospective progress such as CitySquares, the newly launched Bing, and the mobile search space. Now, AOL seeks to help consolidate the space with the acquisition of two local content providers: Patch and Going.

Patch is a local news and information provider while Going is centered more around events that locals can discover and share. Of course, AOL already owns one of the most popular online mapping resources in MapQuest.

The combination of search, local and mapping could be the perfect storm for AOL, if new CEO Tim Armstrong has his way.

“Local remains one of the most disaggregated experiences on the Web today — there’s a lot of information out there but simply no way for consumers to find it quickly and easily,” said Tim Armstrong, AOL’s Chairman and CEO. “It’s a space that’s prime for innovation and an area where AOL has a significant audience and a valuable mapping service in MapQuest.”

Of course, Armstrong came to AOL from Google, a company known for innovation in search.

“Going forward, local will be a core area of focus and investment for AOL,” said Armstrong. “The acquisitions of Patch and Going will help us build out our local network further with excellent local services that enable people to stay better informed about what’s going on in their neighborhood.”

Search for SEM conference and find SES New York 2009

Search for SEM conference and find SES New York 2009

When I conducted a search yesterday on Google for “SEM conference“, the top sponsored listing was for Search Engine Strategies New York. However, the top organic listing was for the Society for Experimental Mechanics.

Welcome to the real world. The organic search engine results don’t always reflect the way we’d define a three-letter acronym (TLA).

And that’s why the SES New York 2009 agenda overview features a ton of conference sessions and training workshops devoted to search engine marketing (SEM) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Sometimes, PPC ads are the only way you can get found for a TLA.

If you are wrestling with similar, real-world challenges, then you have two options. First, you can read Andrew Goodman’s book, Winning Results with Google Adwords. (The photo on the left is Andrew signing his book at SES London 2009.) Second, you can get over to the Hilton New York next week and register for what should be the leading SEM conference by anyone’s definition. (Of course, you can do both.)

If you select the first option, here are the sessions and workshops that you should attend:

Monday, March 23

8:00am-12:00pm — Making Pay Per Click Pay - Best Practices in Pay Per Click Advertising

1:00pm-5:00pm — Landing Page Testing Crash Course

Tuesday, March 24

10:30am-11:30am — First Timer’s Guide to SES and SEM

11:45am-12:45pm — Introduction to Search Engine Marketing

1:45pm-2:45pm — Pay Per Conversation

3:00pm-4:00pm — Publishers & Agencies: New Business Models for Changing Times

4:30pm-5:30pm — The Dozen Most Common Search Marketing Mistakes That CMOs Make

6:15pm — SEMPO Networking Event

Wednesday, March 25

9:00am-10:15am — Search Advertising 101

10:45am-12:00pm — Google Workshop: Preview the new AdWords interface

1:00pm-2:00pm — The State of Search - A Maturing Marketplace or Poised for More Growth?

2:15pm-3:30pm — Slash Your Search Budget: What Are Your Alternatives?

4:00pm-5:15pm — Wpromote Workshop: 8 Things You Aren’t Doing That Will Boost Your SEM Results

Thursday, March 26

9:00am-10:00am — Morning Keynote by John Gerzema, Author of The Brand Bubble

10:30am-11:45am — Advanced Keyword Research

12:45pm-2:00pm — Advanced Paid Search Techniques

2:15pm-3:30pm — Ads in a Quality Score World

3:45pm-5:00pm — Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark: Black Hat PPC Tactics

Of course, search engine marketing means more than just pay-per-click advertising, even if it commands the lion’s share of most SEM budgets. And SEM needs to be integrated into the rest of a company’s marketing mix. Last month, I interviewed Bill Hunt, the CEO of Global Strategies Inc. and Director of Global Search Strategy at Neo@Ogilvy, about this topic at SES London 2009. Listen to his insights below.

Bill Hunt, Global Strategies Int., on collaborative marketing at SES London 2009

Bill is just one of the many SEM experts who will be speaking at the SEM conference that our industry calls SES New York. How do I know that he’s also a top thought leader on Search Engine Marketing? Bill is the co-author of the best selling book “Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Traffic to Your Companies Web Site” from IBM Press. And Bill, you magnificent SEM, I read your book!

It’s NOT Business as Usual at SES New York 2009

It’s NOT Business as Usual at SES New York 2009

According to Google Trends, the search volume and news reference volume for “hope” are greater than they are for “fear.” And it’s worth noting that the search volume for “recovery” is greater than it is for “recession,” although the news reference volume is the other way around.

Still, this is NOT the time for “Business as Usual.” And you can see that reflected in the agenda for Search Engine Strategies (SES) New York, which includes a new track dedicated to “Search & the Fear Economy.” Thousands of the nation’s marketers are expected to attend this year’s event, slated for March 23-27, 2009, at the Hilton New York.

The new conference track, “Search & the Fear Economy,” features a line-up of timely themes:
— Searching for a Solution: The Impact of Today’s Economy on the Search Landscape;
— Survival of the Fittest 2.0;
— Publishing: New Business Models for Changing Times; and
— Pay-for-Performance: Winning Strategies for Advertisers and Agencies.

And that’s not the only change in the conference agenda.

There is a second new track, “Search & the C-Level Exec,” which features these sessions:
— Entrepreneurs and C-Suite Executives: A Fast-Track to Search Marketing Fluency;
— Thinking Outside of Your Website: Branding Without Borders;
— Budget Migration: Going Digital without Impacting Your Brand; and
— Implementing an Effective Digital Corporate Governance Program.

But wait, there’s more!

In addition to the search engine marketing training workshops on Monday, March 23, there is also a one-day Bruce Clay SEO Training Course on Friday, March 27. And in between the optional SEM and SEO training are 65 conference sessions, two keynotes and an Orion Panel.

With the search industry rapidly changing, SES organizers are also reserving several sessions for late-breaking topics to be announced closer to the event. All this makes SES New York a must-attend event in the search industry as well as the largest show in the global SES series.

If you want to get a flavor of SES New York 2009, check out the Day 1 highlights from Search Engine Strategies New York, 2008. And it is worth noting (again) that the economy was in a recession back then, even if it hadn’t been officially declared.

Search Engine Strategies New York 2008

So, as President Barack Obama said in his inaugural address, “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

And one of the places to start is at SES New York 2009. And if you register by Friday, March 6, 2009, you can save up to $200. Hey, that’s equivalent to 40% of the tax cut – or payroll tax credit – that Obama is proposing to give individuals. And even “in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive,” $200 is still $200.

Google Says People Will Pay For Web Content

WAN 2008: People will pay for web content, says Google

Nikesh Arora, president Google for Europe, Middle East and Africa and vice president Google UK, believes that the web economy will evolve just like the print economy - and that means people will pay for content online, writes Stephen Brook. Read more