Google Reports 18 Percent Jump in Q4 Revenue

For all the doom and gloom around Intel and Microsoft this week, Google offered some bright news on the heels of Apple's record earnings report. Late Thursday, Google announced financial results for the fourth quarter.

Google reported revenue of $5.7 billion for the quarter ended Dec 31, an increase of 18 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2007 and an increase of 3 percent compared to the third quarter of 2008. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic-acquisition costs (TAC). In the fourth quarter, TAC totaled $1.48 billion, or 27 percent of advertising revenues.

"Google performed well in the fourth quarter, despite an increasingly difficult economic environment. Search-query growth was strong, revenues were up in most verticals, and we successfully contained costs," said CEO Eric Schmidt. "It's unclear how long the global downturn will last, but our focus remains on the long term, and we'll continue to invest in Google's core search and ads business as well as in strategic growth areas such as display, mobile and enterprise."

Global Income

Google-owned sites generated revenues of $3.81 billion, or 67 percent of total revenue, in the fourth quarter. This was a 22 percent increase over fourth quarter 2007 revenues of $3.12 billion and a four percent increase over third-quarter revenues of $3.67 billion.

Google's partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $1.69 billion, or 30 percent of total revenue. This was a four percent increase over fourth quarter 2007's $1.64 billion and a one percent increase over third quarter revenues of $1.68 billion.

Revenues from outside the U.S. totaled $2.86 billion, or 50 percent of total revenue, compared to 48 percent in year-ago quarter 51 percent in the third quarter. If foreign exchange rates had remained constant from the third quarter through the fourth quarter, fourth-quarter revenue would...