Google Search – strength & sustainability of operating & financial performance

Update on Google Search: innovation, revenue and future issues

Google Search provides the “lion’s share” of Google’s revenue, but other services also play a part. These include App install, worth “billions and billions of dollars annually, given the fact that we are in a mobile-first world” and Gmail, which is “not as significant” but includes promotions that customers can bid on. 

The specialist described how Google Search has adapted to an increasingly mobile world. “They do own the largest mobile operating system in the world, so they have a pretty good line of sight to the installed base and adoption.” Although customers can’t bid on the type of device their ad appears on, the platform “does use all of the data signals from the user at that moment, whether it’s inferred, disclosed or implied.”

Google Search has “dabbled” in other industry verticals, including financial services and insurance, although these haven’t gained much traction. Voice search is another area that the company is exploring, but “they don’t really have a strong play there”. Indeed, “they’re constantly looking and beta testing, and you don’t even realise it sometimes when you’re part of a beta group, or an alpha group in some cases.”

Google Search has experienced double-digit revenue growth in recent years, and the specialist explored whether the conditions for this growth will remain. “They have this advantageous position of, Search particularly, being within the entire funnel.”

The conversation also included Google’s distribution agreement with Apple and what the biggest future regulatory challenge could be. 

To access all the human insights from Third Bridge Forum’s Google Search – Strength & Sustainability of Operating & Financial Performance Interview, click here to view the full transcript.