Inadvertently Leaked Results Show Google Profits Dropping

John Herrman, writing for Buzzfeed:

In a bizarre and unprecedented leak on Thursday, Google’s quarterly earnings were posted on the SEC’s website. The report is both worrying and incomplete — it starts with the phrase “PENDING LARRY [Page] QUOTE” — and it has sent the company’s stock into a tailspin.

This might seem odd considering that the report says Google made $2.74 billion in income last quarter. But that’s lower than expected, and lower than the same quarter last year. Google’s overall revenues, on the other hand, are up 45% from the same time last year, which means that its income is far less in proportion to how big it is: 19% of revenues last quarter, vs 37% in 2011. Google is growing, but its profits are shrinking.

Per-click ad rates are dropping, and wholly-owned subsidiary Motorola lost another $500 million.

Meantime, next week, Google is expected to unveil and promote new devices made by Motorola competitors LG and Sony. Makes total sense.

★ Thursday, 18 October 2012