I had a minute to go through Google’s earnings and check out the TAC (Traffic Acquisition Cost).  The TAC decreased one point, which is a significant trend.  However, it may be decreasing because of growth in Google Owned and Operated businesses.

Here are some key stats from Barron’s Online.

• Google sites revenue rose 4% sequentially, and 22% year over year.
• Google network revenue was up 1% sequentially and 4% year over year.
• International revenue was 50% of total revenue, down from 51% in Q3, but up from 48% a year ago.
• Paid clicks increased 18% year over year, and 10% sequentially.
• TAC at 27% was down from 28% in Q3.
• Google had 20,222 employees at December 31, up just 99 from the previous month.
• At year-end, the company had $15.85 billion in cash.

One of the most interesting things is how much Google slowed its hiring—only 99 people for the quarter.  That number has historically grown at 13%.  Another area they seem to be pulling back on hard is capital expenses.  In Q4 of 2007 they spent nearly $700 million.  In Q4 of 2008, they spent $368 million.  They may be reaping the benefits of past investments, or the last two quarters are examples of how quick they can pull in the spending reins and a sign of future growth.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 10:30 am and is filed under Online Advertising. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.