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Google Play Had a Profit of $8.5 USD Billion in 2019 with Margins of 62 Percent

42 points by adrian_mrd 5y ago

stevespang 5y ago
Absurd. Big corporations often struggle to earn 20% profit. I am old enough to recall the Major oil co's being hit with the "windfall profits tax" back in March 1980. We need the same thing for tech co's today.
fxtentacle 5y ago
While I remain unconvinced that they would have behaved better, had they been in Google's position, I feel very thankful to Epic Games for finally forcing those numbers into the public. It's almost as if they are now procuring the research that government agencies should have been doing, but couldn't.
Jyaif 5y ago
Yes, software has high profit margins. What's the margin on the Fortnite's cosmetics?
qeternity 5y ago
> This means that Google could very easily afford to charge developers a lot less than it does and still be wildly and even unfairly successful. I always wonder if every first world, white collar worker who thinks these things realizes that the exact same thing applies to themselves. For every cushy white collar job in the developed world, there are hoards of people who would do this job for a fraction of what is being paid. So why don't people work for less, voluntarily? It sounds absurd right? Capitalism is the worst form of economic association, except for all the others. Show me a viable alternative, and I'll change my mind.
- ksec 5y ago
  >I always wonder if every first world, white collar worker who thinks these things realizes that the exact same thing applies to themselves. Pretty much sums up Silicon Valley. Saying $200K Fresh Grad job to FAANG is barely enough while claiming the company that employed them are making too much profits.
ksec 5y ago
Missing the Keyword here "operating margin".
greatgib 5y ago
This is very interesting, because, for years, there have been fan boys that justified Apple and Google apps store rackets by saying that it is normal for them to have high charges to be able to fund the expensive work of providing the service.
heybrendan 5y ago
I'd have preferred that the OP simply share the Reuters [1] article directly, than linking to what strikes me as a second-rate, pedestrian personal site masquerading as an pseudo-official tech news blog. From the Reuters article [linked in TFA]: > In its quarterly financial disclosures, Google groups Play app revenue with that of other services and accounts for the store's ad revenue as part of another broader category. Wishful thinking perhaps, but now that the cat is out of the bag, it would be nice to have Play revenue details in future financial disclosures. Retail investors are absolutely clamoring for more transparency in all SEC filings, and it shouldn't require complex acts of jurisprudence to get more data into everyone's hands. In fact, I'd like to see this behavior [releasing higher resolution business details] apply to all of FAANGM [heck, the entire market], given that when it comes to 10-{Q,K}s, they all seem to be playing the same dastardly, opaque game. [1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-play-app-store-revenue-reached-112-bln-2019-lawsuit-says-2021-08-28/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-play-app-store-rev...
morpheos137 5y ago
Does google actually do anything socially valuable anymore? Search sucks.

42 points by adrian_mrd 5y ago

Absurd. Big corporations often struggle to earn 20% profit. I am old enough to recall the Major oil co's being hit with the "windfall profits tax" back in March 1980. We need the same thing for tech co's today.

fxtentacle 5y ago

While I remain unconvinced that they would have behaved better, had they been in Google's position, I feel very thankful to Epic Games for finally forcing those numbers into the public. It's almost as if they are now procuring the research that government agencies should have been doing, but couldn't.

Jyaif 5y ago

Yes, software has high profit margins. What's the margin on the Fortnite's cosmetics?

qeternity 5y ago

> This means that Google could very easily afford to charge developers a lot less than it does and still be wildly and even unfairly successful. I always wonder if every first world, white collar worker who thinks these things realizes that the exact same thing applies to themselves. For every cushy white collar job in the developed world, there are hoards of people who would do this job for a fraction of what is being paid. So why don't people work for less, voluntarily? It sounds absurd right? Capitalism is the worst form of economic association, except for all the others. Show me a viable alternative, and I'll change my mind.

ksec 5y ago
>I always wonder if every first world, white collar worker who thinks these things realizes that the exact same thing applies to themselves. Pretty much sums up Silicon Valley. Saying $200K Fresh Grad job to FAANG is barely enough while claiming the company that employed them are making too much profits.

ksec 5y ago

Missing the Keyword here "operating margin".

greatgib 5y ago

This is very interesting, because, for years, there have been fan boys that justified Apple and Google apps store rackets by saying that it is normal for them to have high charges to be able to fund the expensive work of providing the service.

heybrendan 5y ago

I'd have preferred that the OP simply share the Reuters [1] article directly, than linking to what strikes me as a second-rate, pedestrian personal site masquerading as an pseudo-official tech news blog. From the Reuters article [linked in TFA]: > In its quarterly financial disclosures, Google groups Play app revenue with that of other services and accounts for the store's ad revenue as part of another broader category. Wishful thinking perhaps, but now that the cat is out of the bag, it would be nice to have Play revenue details in future financial disclosures. Retail investors are absolutely clamoring for more transparency in all SEC filings, and it shouldn't require complex acts of jurisprudence to get more data into everyone's hands. In fact, I'd like to see this behavior [releasing higher resolution business details] apply to all of FAANGM [heck, the entire market], given that when it comes to 10-{Q,K}s, they all seem to be playing the same dastardly, opaque game. [1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-play-app-store-revenue-reached-112-bln-2019-lawsuit-says-2021-08-28/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-play-app-store-rev...

morpheos137 5y ago

Does google actually do anything socially valuable anymore? Search sucks.