Surprise Surprise
Last night Google proved the sceptics wrong by announcing a 26% increase in profits for Q3 2008. Flying in the face of a global economic headwinds, paid search listings (including Ad-Sense) jumped 4% on last quarter and 18% over this time last year.
I was particularly pleased to hear that the UK chipped in with 14% ($776m) of all revenue which was consistent with Q2. This indicates that the slow down is not affecting the UK online business as much as some anticipated.
Interesting that the US contributes to 49% of the total revenue; 3.5 times more than the UK. When you consider the US population is about five times as large as the UK it backs up the theory that the UK is leading the way with online advertising, ableit on a smaller scale.
Where Does PPC Fit in This?
The whole thing feels a bit like a sales pitch for paid search advertising – we all know marketing budgets are the first to get chopped in times of recession. It seems UK businesses have made savvy decisions based on the one area where PPC rules – ROI.
Advertiser faith in PPC proves ROI is still achievable in the current economic climate
Due to high conversion and distinctly measurable metrics, PPC is a far more favourable medium than most traditional forms, especially in times of tightened purses. Add to that Eric Schmit’s observation that consumers are now actively bargain hunting more through the net and last night’s results seem a whole lot less (surprise) surprising.
As for the gambling decision: tell me one successful company who does not try and strengthen a position of power? Google are out to fight the economic doom head on, if PPC is their main tool then I’m with them.
Tags: credit crunch, global recession, Google, ppc
