Its Q1 results show the fall in mobile ad rates is easing, which should put it back in the driver?s seat
Google?s Q1 results for this financial year are sure to bolster investor confidence in the company. The company?s revenue increased to $14 billion, up 31% yoy. But the really good news for the search giant is that it seems to finally be getting a grip on revenue-generating advertising model in the mobile space. The ongoing and widespread shift from personal computers and laptops to smartphones and tablets has hit Google advertising revenue?its main source of income?quite hard. Google?s average ad price fell by 6% during the final three months of last year and by 12% during last year’s first quarter. Compared to that, the fall of 4% in this quarter would come as quite a relief, especially since it indicated that the cost-per-click in the mobile space is starting to increase.
All of this comes as great news for Google at a time when it is facing several anti-trust cases in Europe and even more privacy cases across the world. Further, the company recently made a significant strategic shift by bringing its two operating systems?Android and Chrome OS?under one roof and under one boss. The aim would have been to use both operating systems to channel more users to the company?s online services?which is where it gets its advertising revenue from. Against that background, the fact that mobile advertising rates are picking up fits right into the plan. And it?s about time?several reports say that Google is slowly losing search market share to sites that offer topic-specific search results. If Google can strengthen its hold over mobile advertising, then it will re-establish the huge dominance it has ? a dominance that in the recent past has been seen to be weakening.