Google tops $1bn

In the money

By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco, 2nd February 2005

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Google earned $1bn revenues in a quarter for the first time, the company announced today. The web giant grossed $1.032bn, up from the $805.8m it grossed in the quarter ending September 30, and double that grossed a year ago. Net income, calculated on a GAAP basis, was $204m, which included a $60m write-down for stock compensation. Traffic acquisition costs for the quarter were $378m, or 77 per cent of network revenues. Revenues from Google's ad brokerage now account for almost half of its income.

Google is keeping an increasing proportion of the money it receives from advertisers. 77 per cent was passed on to partner sites, down from 85 per cent in the preceding quarter.

This quarter gives a better picture of Google's financials than its predecessor, which was Google's first as a public company. In that period, Google made a one off payment to Yahoo! - settling a legal dispute by licensing patents for the latter's Overture technology - to the tune of $201m.

Over the entire calendar year last year, Google earned $3.19bn, almost exactly half of which came from its own properties and the rest from its ad brokerage. Revenues from the latter - which include Adwords and Adsense - are increasing at a faster clip: up 147 per cent over the year, compared a 101 per cent increase from its own properties. Over the year, Google declared net income of $399m.

Google ended the year with over 3,000 staff.

How does it stack up against it arch rivals? Yahoo! reported slightly better numbers for the calendar year: $3.575bn earned and $840m in profit; although Google had a stronger quarter. Amazon.com reports its earnings tomorrow, which in light of recent snafus, should make for interesting reading. ®