Google said it has seen no effect from a slowing economy on its advertising business, as it reported a 17 percent jump in profit and 51 percent growth in revenue in the fourth quarter.
The result represents a slowdown in Google's growth rate and fell shy of expectations. The company said it remained bullish about its business, regardless of the outlook for the overall economy.
"We have not seen any impact as of now," said Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, in an interview on Thursday afternoon after the financial report was announced. Schmidt said he had yet to see weakness in any advertising category.
It is not clear whether the comments from Google, the largest seller of online ads, will calm growing fears that a slowdown in the economy could take a bite out of online advertising.
While some analysts view Google as a bellwether for the online advertising sector, others say that its business relies disproportionately on small text ads that appear next to search results. Those ads tend to produce immediate results for advertisers because they drive traffic to their Web sites.
Analysts believe they are more impervious to a slowdown than banner ads, which are aimed at building brand awareness and are common on most sites.
"I don't think Google's ad model is insulated from a recession, but it is probably less vulnerable to cutbacks than other online ad models and definitely than traditional advertising," said Scott Kessler, an equity analyst with Standard & Poor's.
This week, Yahoo said it was too early to determine whether a slowdown in sectors like retail, housing, finance and travel would have an impact on its online advertising business.
During a conference call with investors, Google executives were upbeat about both the company's results and its prospects.
"We are very, very pleased with our year and also with the quarter that just ended," Schmidt said.
He said that the movement of ad dollars from traditional media to online media is a trend that is not going to reverse.
"We are optimistic about 2008," he said.
Google executives went as far to suggest that they might benefit in some ways from an economic downturn. Jonathan Rosenberg, senior vice president of product management, said worries about the economy could lead consumers to spend more time online searching for good deals.
"If people are doing more comparison shopping and looking for bargains, that could be a positive," he said.
The company's shares closed at US$564.30 during regular trading, up US$16.03 for the day, or nearly 3 percent. But its stock fell 6.5 percent after hours, to US$527.40.
The Internet search giant reported net income for the quarter of US$1.21 billion, or US$3.79 a share, compared with US$1.03 billion, or US$3.29 a share a year ago. Excluding items like stock based compensation, income was US$4.43 a share, slightly below the US$4.45 expected by Wall Street analysts.
Google said revenue in the last three months of the year rose to US$4.83 billion, from US$3.21 billion a year ago. Excluding commissions paid to advertising partners, a measure closely watched by Wall Street analysts, Google's revenue jumped to US$3.39 billion, from US$2.23 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected revenues, without partner commissions, to be US$3.45 billion.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique