Search leader Google has announced the company's financial results for the fourth quarter and 2004. Google had record revenues of just over $1bn, a year on year increase of 101%. Google pointed towards strong traffic to its websites as the main driving force for this, yet also admitted that a fair chunk came from advertising revenues. Google's Adsense network contributed 48% of total revenues for the quarter. For the calendar year 2004, the company saw revenues of $3.2bn and profits of $399m, an increase of 278% on the previous year.
"Google had an exceptional quarter. Revenues and profits increased significantly, our execution was solid across the company and most importantly, our relationship with our users, partners and advertisers became even stronger," said Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive officer. "All of this happened while we continued to innovate, expand around the world and make strategic, long-term investments."
The results also show that Google is sitting on a massive mountain of cash (~$2bn); the question must be what do they plan to do with it? Speculation points to VoIP or perhaps a Google Browser, with the latter seeming a lot more likely than the former. Google also became an accredited name registrar, yet has not yet announced exactly how it plans to use its new abilities. One way Google has been spending its money is by re-investing it into employees via stock. In 2004, the company maintained its massive market share of 60%, but could see new challenges in 2004. Increased competition from the likes of Microsoft, Yahoo and Amazon could see that figure decline.
View: Google Results
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