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What fascinates me about Google is literally nothing else has stuck to the wall and they've thrown a LOT of rocks. Selling ads against search, the initial hit,

What fascinates me about Google is literally nothing else has stuck to the wall and they've thrown a LOT of rocks. Selling ads against search, the initial hit, still accounts for over 90% of their revenue.

geodel 10y ago
Yea, but that itself is a very big deal. Along the way they made, browser, mobile OS, programing language, all highly successful. Their cutting edge ad platform which Yahoo despite being much longer in business and multiple tries could not beat.
bryanlarsen 10y ago
Google doesn't break out their ad revenue numbers. Current estimates are that Youtube & Google Play ads contribute >15% of their ad revenue. I would argue that "ads against search" and "ads on Youtube" are two different businesses even if they do seem similar. Google is not a one trick pony: they have 5 billion dollar businesses: ads against search; ads against their web properties like Gmail, network ads (DoubleClick), ads on YouTube, Android.
- samfisher83 10y ago
  http://www.wsj.com/articles/viewers-dont-add-up-to-profit-for-youtube-1424897967 http://www.wsj.com/articles/viewers-dont-add-up-to-profit-fo... You tube does not make much money according this article. If youtube was making money wouldn't google make a not of it in their 10k or 10q instead of not breaking it out. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204416000021/goog10-qq12016.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204416...
  - gaius 10y ago
    Google didn't want Youtube. They just wanted no one else to have it.
- jerf 10y ago
  Yes and no; if general faith in Internet advertising tumbles those businesses will all be affected. And I do mean "yes and no". There are ways in which they are different, but there's also significant ways in which the performance is significantly correlated in a way that would concern me as a CEO.
lgieron 10y ago
Some of the projects which don't directly generate revenue are still useful - they gather data on users and/or pose as extra ad space.
- Jtsummers 10y ago
  This is a good point. They're driven by advertising revenue (primary revenue) and collecting market data (to better target advertising, making them a good option for buyers of advertising). Social networks, chat, flight data, search, video watching (youtube), aggregated shopping data, all allow them to deliver advertising or collect data on users. Looking at the services that have been killed over the years or stagnated, they don't allow enough data collection or ad delivery to justify spending money by Google. Either because they simply weren't well geared towards it, or because they didn't get enough uptake in the market.

geodel 10y ago

Yea, but that itself is a very big deal. Along the way they made, browser, mobile OS, programing language, all highly successful. Their cutting edge ad platform which Yahoo despite being much longer in business and multiple tries could not beat.

bryanlarsen 10y ago

Google doesn't break out their ad revenue numbers. Current estimates are that Youtube & Google Play ads contribute >15% of their ad revenue. I would argue that "ads against search" and "ads on Youtube" are two different businesses even if they do seem similar. Google is not a one trick pony: they have 5 billion dollar businesses: ads against search; ads against their web properties like Gmail, network ads (DoubleClick), ads on YouTube, Android.

samfisher83 10y ago
http://www.wsj.com/articles/viewers-dont-add-up-to-profit-for-youtube-1424897967 http://www.wsj.com/articles/viewers-dont-add-up-to-profit-fo... You tube does not make much money according this article. If youtube was making money wouldn't google make a not of it in their 10k or 10q instead of not breaking it out. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204416000021/goog10-qq12016.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204416...
- gaius 10y ago
  Google didn't want Youtube. They just wanted no one else to have it.
jerf 10y ago
Yes and no; if general faith in Internet advertising tumbles those businesses will all be affected. And I do mean "yes and no". There are ways in which they are different, but there's also significant ways in which the performance is significantly correlated in a way that would concern me as a CEO.

lgieron 10y ago

Some of the projects which don't directly generate revenue are still useful - they gather data on users and/or pose as extra ad space.

Jtsummers 10y ago
This is a good point. They're driven by advertising revenue (primary revenue) and collecting market data (to better target advertising, making them a good option for buyers of advertising). Social networks, chat, flight data, search, video watching (youtube), aggregated shopping data, all allow them to deliver advertising or collect data on users. Looking at the services that have been killed over the years or stagnated, they don't allow enough data collection or ad delivery to justify spending money by Google. Either because they simply weren't well geared towards it, or because they didn't get enough uptake in the market.