July 17th, 2008
Google's second quarter: What to expect
Update: Google results out. Earnings fell short in the quarter and fell into the neutral range on the scorecard below.
Google will deliver its second quarter earnings Thursday after market close and analysts are expecting profits of $4.74 a share on $3.87 billion in revenue. Items front and center will include paid click rates, the integration of DoubleClick and any color on the advertising market in the U.S.
Among the key items Google will actually talk about:
- Paid clicks will be closely watched, but the focus has died down relative to the first quarter results. In the first quarter, Google’s paid click growth was up 20 percent from a year ago.
- The DoubleClick acquisition will also be more of an item this earnings report. Citi Investment Research analyst Mark Mahaney noted any comments on Google’s display ad business will be closely watched.
- Any progress on YouTube advertising as well as Android will be worth a headline or two.
- And then there’s the economy. Europe is slowing down and Google is a big player there. How will the slowdown in the U.S. and Europe hamper Google’s results? Chances are good the economic issue won’t impact Google, but these woes could certainly ding rivals like Yahoo.
Among the other items we’d love to hear Google talk about (fat chance on this happening):
- Thoughts about the Viacom lawsuit and user privacy;
- What Google really thinks about this Yahoo-Microsoft scrum;
- If Google were to hire Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang what would his role be?
Here’s a look at Mahaney’s handy cheat sheet (click for larger image):
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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