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Google has just announced its earnings for Q4 2011, reporting $10.58 billion in revenue — although that number doesn't include traffic acquisition costs. When you factor those in, actual net revenue was $8.13 billion. That amount is the first time Google passed the $10 billion mark in a single quarter and represents a 25 percent increase year on year. For the full year, Google's revenue is up 29 percent and the company is currently sitting on cash and cash-equivalent reserves of $44.6 billion. Digging deeper into the numbers, Google saw a 6 percent increase with net income of $2.71 billion. All Things D notes that the results were lower than Wall Street estimates. Google hired about 1,100 new workers during the quarter.
Although Google didn't break out whether its new social network, Google+, is making money specifically, the statement from CEO Larry Page that accompanied its press release was quick to cite the new property. "I am super excited about the growth of Android, Gmail, and Google+, which now has 90 million users globally – well over double what I announced just three months ago."
Google also announced the latest Android activation numbers and the number of Android devices sold to date.
Comments
90 million users, yet some people will say “Isn’t Google+ dead?”.
cybik - January 19, 2012
How many are active and how many joined to see what it was about only to never use it again? Thats the more pertinent question.
AdamReid - January 19, 2012
Probably a far lower number than the millions of empty and dead Facebook accounts sitting around…(although it could then be a higher percentage of total users).
::er - January 19, 2012
I’m no Facebook fanboy (in fact I don’t even have an account) but the growth numbers that Facebook gives out are usually the number of “active” users.
From Facebook:
More than 800 million active users
More than 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
Steve St. Germain - January 19, 2012
I don’t know, still sounds spun a bit to me. What is “active”?
I mean they could be saying, basically, that they have 400 million people that log on every other day and 400 million dead accounts. Unlikely, but that wouldn’t be a lie if you only went by the two data points you just referenced.
But in fairness—I’m sure Google would be embarrassed to say how many engaged, active, daily users they have. It’s 50, 25%, maybe even 10% of that 90 million.
::er - January 19, 2012
Just browsing the internet in general probably makes you an “active” user as it tracks you (practically) everywhere you go.
thisismynextname - January 19, 2012
Does that matter?? Geezzz …
My Google account is dead silent and I am sure the majority of people with Google+ account share the same experience. I have friend post daily on Facebook but none on Google+. I don’t normally share on social network but I post 3 picasa albums on Google+ and that makes me the most active among my Google+ friends.
javalin - January 19, 2012
My buddy’s dog has an active account on Facebook. And my friend has several of her young children with active accounts, even though they’re not old enough to have accounts themselves. I would say that Facebook might have a rather inflated number when it comes down to it. Who knows? I’m just giving you a couple of examples of how social media sites, like Facebook and Google+, might not have all that they claim to have.
sooper_verge12 - January 19, 2012
People’s cats, dogs and other pets have Facebook, people create multiple fake Facebook, spam companies have fake Facebook. I am happy to say that I canceled my Facebook but after 1 month it magically reactivated itself.
Danhese007 - January 19, 2012
How many of those 800 million are bipedal and actually breath through their nose?
Codernaut - January 19, 2012
Statistics show 501% of registered FB users log on each day.. am not sure Google+ has more than 255 of registered members checking their profile in a week.
jrtorrents - January 19, 2012
sorry.. I mean 51%
jrtorrents - January 19, 2012
Nope, your first number looked correct.
jalexoid - January 19, 2012
Yea, I dont believe in statistics I havent personally faked. I’m sure Zucki lives by the same motto.
Bahumbug - January 19, 2012
I know my feed usually updates at LEAST 5 times in a minute on average, but then again I have “only” 500 people sending updates.
cybik - January 19, 2012
I’m far more interested in this, like Android Google seems happy to report large, but somewhat hollow numbers. My Google+, which to be fair I treat more like Facebook rather than following loads of people, is a ghetto updates maybe once or twice a month. I fully understand it’s how I use it, but not many of my friends are signed up and the ones that are hardly use it.
dashiel - January 19, 2012
You’re supposed to share and comment on interesting things. It’s less about friends posting a single sentence about dinner, and more about finding people who are discussing topics. You’re right, I don’t have a lot of friends on it either, but there’s plenty of more thoughtful content and an interface that I prefer for sharing and discussion. I don’t think it’s a failure, I just think it depends upon what people want out of a social network.
That said, if it ever does become as mainstream as FB or Twitter, it’ll probably turn into the same barrage of constant awful posts. I’m definitely going to be more thoughtful about my circles on G+.
Dmoralize - January 20, 2012
From ArsTechnica ( http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2012/01/google-claims-90-million-google-users-60-active-daily.ars )
“There are over 90 million Google+ users, well over double what I announced just a quarter ago,” Page said. “Plus users are very engaged with our products. Over 60 percent of them engaged daily and 80 percent engaged weekly.”
Emphasis: PLUS USERS ARE VERY ENGAGED WITH OUR PRODUCTS. OVER 60% OF THEM ENGAGED DAILY AND 80% ENGAGED WEEKLY.
The funny thing is, he doesn’t SAY: 60% PLUS USERS LOGIN DAILY AND 80% LOGIN WEEKLY.
Sounds like this has been put through the Google PR machine….
Everyone likes to play the numbers game, and obviously every company will choose it’s strongest spin.
Ninja1043 - January 19, 2012
How many people use Myspace lol?
normz.muufin - January 19, 2012
Exactly, number of users means nothing. Here today, gone tomorrow. The real pertinent question is how many tendrils has it nuzzled deep into the cracks and arteries of your personal and social life?
::er - January 19, 2012
I know I don’t use it. Not enough people I know use it to be worth it. Everyone is either on FB or Twitter.
jaggedspike - January 19, 2012
If everyone thought that way there would never be new social networks.
AnthonySchell - January 19, 2012
There is no thinking to it. You can’t change a standard by abiding by it. Facebook is the standard.
jaggedspike - January 19, 2012
FB is the standard for personal communications – yes. Google+ is rather different. There is a large number of people actually using Google+, but it’s in no way the same way as Facebook. Google+ feels much more formal.
jalexoid - January 19, 2012
I think it feels like a more polished Facebook.
jaggedspike - January 20, 2012
you think there are 90 million active users on g+?
i would like to sell you a talking pug.
JesseDegenerate - January 19, 2012
To note, this is below analyst’s expectations.
clindhartsen - January 19, 2012
This earnings miss is as big as they get. Somehow, the stock is only down 10%.
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
10% is fair. That is 20B market cap. Fundamental is still strong and 44B in cash helps.
javalin - January 19, 2012
Analysts overestimate. They exceeded Apples be a longshot.
jaggedspike - January 19, 2012
Obiously you have no idea how stock market works.
javalin - January 19, 2012
Oh really? Try me.
jaggedspike - January 20, 2012
For most quarters gone by, “analysts” have all missed the mark on Apple quarterlies.
slackguy - January 20, 2012
Apple is one of the few that can get away with aiming low, and analysts going a little above that, and Apple usually exceeding their expectations.
clindhartsen - January 20, 2012
Go Google!
numz - January 19, 2012
Thats a fair chunk of change!
T1nman - January 19, 2012
Verge: you should really look at bottom line for these earnings reports as well. Google missed huge on EPS per share and the stock is getting hammered
red grenadine - January 19, 2012
Google needs to get ES back as their CEO. He’s the only one there that knows how to actually grow the business. Page is an amateur. “Wow” (Page’s word)
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
Recond breaking revenue,!!!! stock drops $60 (10%)
sirawesome - January 19, 2012
The Google Growth story is officially over with this earnings report, hence the stock plummet. Watch for it to hit around $400 by the end of the summer.
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
Yes, its not like this happens with practically every quarterly report, don’t look at previous quarters, don’t think,. World is over.
sirawesome - January 19, 2012
They’re up 6%, and 25% year on year. Growth continues. Stock prices will correct. Life goes on. You are, emotionally, a 9-year-old.
::er - January 19, 2012
6% is a pittance. Watch for AAPL to grow 70-120% when they announce next week. That’s Growth.
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
That’s douchegrowth. That’s like comparing a bulky bully on viagra with the geek genius.
cybik - January 19, 2012
You mean one has girl and the other one does not
javalin - January 19, 2012
Dumbest comment of the week award goes to cybik.
slackguy - January 20, 2012
Um…last time Apple had their earnings call, their stock was down too. How did that work out?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/19/apple-shares-idUSN1E79I0AB20111019
aNYthing24 - January 19, 2012
Their stock was down because their growth was only 50% year-over-year. Look at the stock today.
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
That’s what I’m saying. In due time, Google’s stock’s will correct itself just like Apple did.
aNYthing24 - January 19, 2012
Almost certainly.
jaggedspike - January 19, 2012
Why would it correct when there’s no more growth ahead for them?
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
You’re kidding, right?
aNYthing24 - January 19, 2012
MMI and Android are strangling any chance for growth. Listen to the earnings call.
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
Android is how Google is going to grow. Just think for a minute about where advertising is headed and how Google has positioned itself in the mobile space. Just think, for one minute, instead of copy/pasting ledes from stock sites like an obvious troll being obvious.
(the MMI buy is simply a component of the Android strategy. 12.5 billion is not pocket change to Google, but it’ll pay for itself within a year or so—Motorola Mobility is by itself a modestly profitable entity)
::er - January 19, 2012
“modest profitability” means margins of what? 1%? 3% maybe? Are you telling me those margin’s aren’t going to affect Google’s 30-40% margins?
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
Google will offload the MMI lame duck once they have plucked the shiny feathers they wanted.
Probably give it to Samsung for a few pictures of their booth babes.
Boghog - January 19, 2012
Boghog is actually making a sensible business prediction….
jalexoid - January 19, 2012
I was more talking about making back the 12.5 billion by increasing Android-related revenue streams.
You’ve failed reading comprehension, let’s try math. If I make profits of 16 billion on 40 billion of revenue, my margin is 40%. If I do that while my subsidiary makes a paltry 50 million on 3 billion, I’m still at 37%. So the answer to your question is “yes, but not by enough for anyone knowledgeable to care”.
But that’s discounting the factor that holding MMI will enable increasing Android’s market share and thus ad revenue growth, by selling better Droids and helping other hardware partners avoid licensing fees, leading to more sales on those channels.
meanwhile apple will still generate huge profits through vertical integration, I’m sure, and their growth will continue to carry them up towards Google’s 600/share range, eventually. By that time Google’s mobile strategy will have matured and I can’t imagine what they’ll be at.
::er - January 19, 2012
“Carry them up”??? GOOG is worth HALF of AAPL. It’s called market capitalization.
Your math is also very skewed, as your taking a years worth of rev./profit (GOOG), and comparing that to one quarter of rev./profit (MMI). Try again.
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
I was talking about the stock price, not market cap, since the stock price is all that you’d mentioned.
Example is just an example; I made up the MMI numbers. I’m sure you can work out several yourself. The eventual outcome is the same.
::er - January 19, 2012
Most analysts still rate Google “Buy”
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/GOOG/analystestimates
::er - January 19, 2012
The same analysts who said to sell APPL in 2012? http://www.marketwatch.com/story/time-to-sell-apple-2012-01-12 Sounds like a good bunch.
slackguy - January 20, 2012
Look at stock today. That was a gross overestimate.
jaggedspike - January 19, 2012
Once again, that’s my point.
aNYthing24 - January 19, 2012
I’ll keep an eye on it, but I sold all my AAPL the day of the 4S announcement. Just before they dropped like a stone and continued plummeting for months, until just before the holidays. I see they lost a point or so today after the iBook announcement. If it goes down I’ll buy some back more before the iPhone 5 comes out and see how it goes.
::er - January 19, 2012
AAPL earnings are next week. If it’s a blowout, this may be the last time the stock is in the 400s.
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
It’s going to be big. Record iPhones, record iPads, probably record Macs. Stock today is the highest ever for Apple, beating the previous high.
jaggedspike - January 19, 2012
iPad number probably going to be weak (but probably will still be record high) due to IPad 3 factor. But everything else, yes definitely going to be strong.
javalin - January 19, 2012
You do realize that Google’s success and Apple’s success are not mutually exclusive, right? They can both, in fact, be successful companies; even if you don’t like one’s products & services.
MikeSeif - January 19, 2012
I’m not sure who said this, but to paraphrase, “They got into the phone business, we never got into the search business.”
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
That’s a fair statement, if you’re trying to explain animosity between the companies. It has nothing to do with both being successful.
MikeSeif - January 19, 2012
Indeed. Google hasn’t set out to damage Apple; they set out to damage Microsoft.
Boghog - January 20, 2012
Uhm, what?
MikeSeif - January 20, 2012
If Apple succeed, Google succeed (provided they stick to their current model)
If Microsoft succeed, Google fail. Android was created specifically to stop Microsoft gaining dominance in mobile web. Google Docs was created to stop MS gaining moving their dominance into the cloud.
MS is Google’s biggest threat, not Apple
Boghog - January 20, 2012
Thanks for clearing up, I was having trouble following your angle. That makes sense.
I don’t think Google’s modus operandi is to oppose Microsoft per se; I think they are opposed to stagnation. If one company corners a market, they tend to rest on their laurels a bit (ahem, MS & Intel in the 90s).
In the case of Google Docs vs. MS Office, I think you are correct. MS didn’t (ever in my opinion) have dominance in the cloud space though, but were/are a relevant player. I don’t think Google got into the mobile space to stop MS from gaining dominance though. Google correctly identified mobile as the next major user space, knowing the amount of opportunity for their services would be vast on mobile devices.
MikeSeif - January 20, 2012
However, they DID try the social network business…
atlharry - January 19, 2012
Except Google “got into the phone business” before Apple did.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2005/tc20050817_0949_tc024.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_iPhone
But even if they didn’t who cares, there’s nothing to stop Apple from setting up it’s own search engine, I’m sure no-one at Google would go crying to the press saying that all this competition stuff just isn’t fair. Stop spouting company rhetoric and lies, look at the facts, and calm down.
Vinnie555 - January 20, 2012
No, that’s called explosive growth. And most known for being semi sustainable.
jalexoid - January 19, 2012
The day Microsoft gets the right treatment (Regarding their quarter numbers), will be the day Google will be treated as such. Media headlines are now usually made to attract more clicks and nothing else.
Just look at the headlines: Microsoft has “monster” quater, amid Windows Division Decline.
I didn’t know that Microsoft is supposed to sell more Windows copies as Windows 8 approaches.
I didn’t know that Microsoft is supposed to be punished for low sales their partners deserve to post (half-baked attempts).
BUT hey watch out!!! POST-PC world is coming, and it’s coming fast!!! Run away ya’ll!!!!!!!!! Oh, wait.. :)
Ninja1043 - January 20, 2012
90million forced users.. I singed up without even knowing.. I check it up once in awhile and its a dead space in there
jrtorrents - January 19, 2012
I think the last post I see is from September O.o.
jaggedspike - January 19, 2012
its not exactly bad but I don’t see how they will get back into action.. it looks like the world cannot hold two dominant Social networking offering the same thing at the same time.. one has to die first and as it looks Facebook isn’t going anywhere.
jrtorrents - January 19, 2012
Google+ and Facebook are too similar for someone to use both. You might have too much time on your hands if you can. I don’t want to post something on FB and then on G+. Twitter is at least very different from the other two,
jaggedspike - January 19, 2012
yeah .. looks like it and unless they give something really useful like make youtube Google+ exclusive (which they wont) or something like that I don’t see this happening.
jrtorrents - January 19, 2012
They forced you to opt into their opt in social network?
MikeSeif - January 19, 2012
BY GUNPOINT!
but i’m actually with them on their main point. I signed up for one, and post to it about once ever 5 months.
Facebook gets used.
JesseDegenerate - January 19, 2012
That’s completely your right and prerogative. Many will agree, others will not.
facebook has nothing of value for me these days. On Google+ I can connect with people in my industry (Mobile app / web development) that I typically would not be able to interact with.
While Google+ doesn’t have the weight behind it that facebook does, it is gaining steam. It’s not going to go away anytime soon (like Buzz).
MikeSeif - January 20, 2012
that’s every bit as fair as what i wrote, for me it’s the opposite, and just because someone has a fan page doesn’t mean it’s not easy to get in touch:D
it’s good to have competition anyway with every platform including social networking, otherwise what’s to keep it from getting stagnant?
JesseDegenerate - January 20, 2012
My thoughts exactly : )
MikeSeif - January 20, 2012
Don’t forget the MMI albatross that will drag Google earnings down even further!
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
First meeting of Page, Brin and Schmidt with Sanjay Jha….
It is an ancient Motorola’er,
And he stoppeth one of three.
‘By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?
Boghog - January 19, 2012
And Google also starts rolling out ICE CREAM SANDWICH to Motorola XOOM users like me :)
vvnraman - January 19, 2012
Another reason why they are not making enough profits for their shareholders.
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
This earnings call is turning into a joke.
BranchioMotor - January 19, 2012
Looks like the trolls have arrived.
Codernaut - January 19, 2012
Armchair Gordon Gekko’s
schmozo - January 19, 2012
More specifically iTrolls AKA the worst kind
kalikot - January 19, 2012
Fallacies and logic errors abound.
brockorr - January 19, 2012
you don’t see the massive doses of irony in your post?
/here’s a hint, you are what you hate.
JesseDegenerate - January 19, 2012
No, but the Degenerate part in your name fits you well.
Codernaut - January 19, 2012
Hmmm … I don’t think he was talking to you
javalin - January 19, 2012
he’s just upset i quoted him being a massive asshole, with “facts” right below.
coder, i don’t think your ready for this jelly.
JesseDegenerate - January 20, 2012
be nice. We all say dumb things from time to time.
JesseDegenerate - January 19, 2012
Facts hurt, huh?
Codernaut - January 19, 2012
more irony!
JesseDegenerate - January 20, 2012
P/E ratio: Price of 1 share divided by earnings per share.
Amazon 102.45
Google 21.80
Apple 15.46
Microsoft 10.21
Microsoft is the only one that pays dividends, and they beat WallStreet estimates last quarter.
Greasy_Taco_Aficionado - January 20, 2012
What are the colors in the chart? I don’t see it in the article at Google or All Things D.
WilliamF - January 20, 2012
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