Search Advertising Remains Resilient in Recession; Google Beats Analysts' Earnings Forecasts
January 23rd, 2009by Matt Parisi
Yesterday, Google announced Q4 earnings which beat analysts’ estimates and placed Google among the few tech companies producing good news recently. Despite a dramatic drop in quarterly profit from last year’s Q4, Google reported revenue 18% higher from the same period last year. The reduced profit was mostly due to one-time writedowns related to investments in AOL.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt commented on “strong search query growth year on year.” While consumers and businesses trim spending habits, online ad sales posted by Google continue to be strong in the face of increasing skepticism as a result of the current recession. Even as critics continue to cast doubts on the future of online advertising spending, Google continues to grow revenue and take search market share from competitors. This bright spot reinforces the shifting of ad spends moving away from traditional mediums and towards the online space.
SiteLab continues to believe in the future of online advertising as one of the most accountable and profitable advertising mediums. The natural advantages enjoyed in the online space over traditional media regarding increased accountability and lower costs of entry should continue to justify the year over year growth of overall online ad spending.
