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This is yet another sign that Google is in ruin …

complex_exp 3y ago
It's hardly in ruin, has more cash on the balance sheet than, for example, all the help sent to Ukraine, military and humanitarian. It's just that making a shit ton of money ain't actually that fun because your job is basically to constantly patch holes in this gargantuan ship that never stops.
- Daishiman 3y ago
  IBM was in this position way back too. Revenue is a lagging indicator.
  - majormajor 3y ago
    IBM was a big driver in viewing teams and employees as fungible and assembly-line pieces and shifting to offshore work. I think the fact that Google isn't yet worried about cost more than productivity is a good sign that they're still a ways away from that.
    - andromeduck 3y ago
      What makes you think they aren't? Everything they've done the last few years has been cost driven.
- somsak2 3y ago
  On the same order of magnitude, but not quite. Plus, the second figure is from four months ago. https://companiesmarketcap.com/alphabet-google/cash-on-hand/#:~:text=Cash%20on%20Hand%20as%20of,accessible%20money%20a%20business%20has https://companiesmarketcap.com/alphabet-google/cash-on-hand/.... https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2023-02-24/these-countries-have-sent-the-most-aid-to-ukraine https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2023-02-...
  - H8crilA 3y ago
    Pledged vs delivered :) But yeah, the point stands either way.
- tyingq 3y ago
  "In ruin" is probably too strong. But, there are lots of expectations that double-digit YoY revenue growth will continue forever. Growth that far exceeds audience growth. That's mostly from ads, and now the most lucrative queries have nothing but ads above the fold...videos are fully saturated with ads, better targeting is constrained by various privacy laws, Apple, etc. So that expectation cannot be met for much longer. They have squeezed all the easy juice. Growth will continue, but at a much lower rate that more closely matches audience growth. So, "in ruin" may not be right, but there is some kind of big shift coming. The conditions they've enjoyed for a long time aren't going to hold.
karmasimida 3y ago
Is that so? WFH is still a largely a COVID thing, even 3 times a day is still better than going to office 5 times week, as before?
- barbazoo 3y ago
  Any number of days > 0 will require people to live near the office. Many people can't afford that anymore and moved away and moved away because of that or other reasons.
  - tjr225 3y ago
    [dead]
  - makapuf 3y ago
    Twice a week could, if your partner enables it for kids, to go to office on the morning, sleep there and go back at the end of the next day once per week and then wfh the rest of the week in your big home in a nice place to live.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    One day per week, maybe two, really broadens your living options though. The approximate two-hour commute each way at commuting times I have into the nearest major city is pretty doable once a week. I have a colleague who routinely flies in for a day or two of customer visits. (He actually doesn't take all that much longer than I do to get to the office.) From personal experience, much more than that and it's not really sustainable.
- photonbucket 3y ago
  3 times a week in way worse than zero. Are we all going to just drive somewhere, sit at a desk and not talk to our co-workers cause they actually in some other office, then drive home?
  - blitzar 3y ago
    Are we all going to just drive somewhere, sit at a desk and have a zoom call with our co-workers that are working from home that day, then drive home?

It's hardly in ruin, has more cash on the balance sheet than, for example, all the help sent to Ukraine, military and humanitarian. It's just that making a shit ton of money ain't actually that fun because your job is basically to constantly patch holes in this gargantuan ship that never stops.

Daishiman 3y ago
IBM was in this position way back too. Revenue is a lagging indicator.
- majormajor 3y ago
  IBM was a big driver in viewing teams and employees as fungible and assembly-line pieces and shifting to offshore work. I think the fact that Google isn't yet worried about cost more than productivity is a good sign that they're still a ways away from that.
  - andromeduck 3y ago
    What makes you think they aren't? Everything they've done the last few years has been cost driven.
somsak2 3y ago
On the same order of magnitude, but not quite. Plus, the second figure is from four months ago. https://companiesmarketcap.com/alphabet-google/cash-on-hand/#:~:text=Cash%20on%20Hand%20as%20of,accessible%20money%20a%20business%20has https://companiesmarketcap.com/alphabet-google/cash-on-hand/.... https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2023-02-24/these-countries-have-sent-the-most-aid-to-ukraine https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2023-02-...
- H8crilA 3y ago
  Pledged vs delivered :) But yeah, the point stands either way.
tyingq 3y ago
"In ruin" is probably too strong. But, there are lots of expectations that double-digit YoY revenue growth will continue forever. Growth that far exceeds audience growth. That's mostly from ads, and now the most lucrative queries have nothing but ads above the fold...videos are fully saturated with ads, better targeting is constrained by various privacy laws, Apple, etc. So that expectation cannot be met for much longer. They have squeezed all the easy juice. Growth will continue, but at a much lower rate that more closely matches audience growth. So, "in ruin" may not be right, but there is some kind of big shift coming. The conditions they've enjoyed for a long time aren't going to hold.

karmasimida 3y ago

Is that so? WFH is still a largely a COVID thing, even 3 times a day is still better than going to office 5 times week, as before?

barbazoo 3y ago
Any number of days > 0 will require people to live near the office. Many people can't afford that anymore and moved away and moved away because of that or other reasons.
- tjr225 3y ago
  [dead]
- makapuf 3y ago
  Twice a week could, if your partner enables it for kids, to go to office on the morning, sleep there and go back at the end of the next day once per week and then wfh the rest of the week in your big home in a nice place to live.
- ghaff 3y ago
  One day per week, maybe two, really broadens your living options though. The approximate two-hour commute each way at commuting times I have into the nearest major city is pretty doable once a week. I have a colleague who routinely flies in for a day or two of customer visits. (He actually doesn't take all that much longer than I do to get to the office.) From personal experience, much more than that and it's not really sustainable.
photonbucket 3y ago
3 times a week in way worse than zero. Are we all going to just drive somewhere, sit at a desk and not talk to our co-workers cause they actually in some other office, then drive home?
- blitzar 3y ago
  Are we all going to just drive somewhere, sit at a desk and have a zoom call with our co-workers that are working from home that day, then drive home?