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THE 43 BEST PPC MANAGEMENT TOOLS AS VOTED FOR BY EXPERTS AND THE PPC METRICS YOU SHOULD MEASURE

Paid advertisements are a great way to drive targeted traffic and relevant people to a website.

However, if you’re new to the Paid-Per-Click PPC game or have not optimised your campaigns to their full potential you could be throwing money away!

There’s a whole bunch of management tools out there that can help with optimising your PPC campaigns but how do you know which ones are the best?

In this article, Studio-40 asked 21 PPC experts for the tools that they could not live without.

Their answers include a wide range of free, paid and free trial option tools. Take a look…

Studio 40’s 43 Best PPC Management Tools As Voted For By Experts from Tommy Toy

 

COMMENTARY:   

Using PPC Metrics to help measure the success of your PPC Marketing?

The second question out of the 8 questions to ask before you hire a PPC expert is how will you measure success? When I wrote about setting pay per click goals, I said setting goals before you start is critical. Just as critical is understanding how you are going to measure whether you reached your goals or not.

Since goals are specific, you should be able to figure out what metrics you need in order to measure progress. For example, if your goal is to spend $1000 and get 10 conversions, you need to measure your total cost and total conversions. If you goal is to get 1000 visitors, then you will be measuring clicks. If you want to be shown on the first page of Google for specific keywords, then you measure average position and impression share for each of those keywords or ad groups.

These are some simple ideas but don’t let them fool you. As you begin to dig deeper into managing PPC campaigns you will want to start measuring other metrics or segmenting data into device types or time of day in order to understand how well your campaigns perform. For the sake of keeping this post from becoming a book, I am going to stick with the high level metrics and refrain from others such as bounce rates and the various types of conversions.

What PPC metrics are available?

Google and Bing provide plenty for you to analyze. To get you started, there are a handful of metrics that you need to know. Below are some basic definitions to help you understand them. Google details more of these and other definitions in their Adwords Glossary.

1. Impressions – The number of times your ad was displayed in a search results page.
2. Clicks – The number of times someone clicked on your ads.
3. Click Through Rate (CTR) – The percentage of clicks divided by Impressions.
4. Cost – The total cost for all clicks.
5. Average Cost per Click (CPC) – Total cost divided by the total number of clicks.
6. Average Position – How high in the results page is your ad showing. 1 is the highest.
7. Impression Share – The percentage of the total number of times your ad could have been shown vs the actual number of times it was shown.
8. Conversions – The number of times someone clicked on an ad and completed an action you defined as a conversion within a specific period of time.
9. Quality Score – Relevancy of your combined keyword, ad and landing page which affects your CPC. Quality scores vary but the higher the better.
10. % Served – When analyzing your ad copy, how often an ad was served vs other ads in the same ad group.

What should you measure?

Although every metric is important when evaluating PPC marketing performance, your goals will determine which metrics you should focus on first. As a general rule, I don’t recommend any of the following goals by themselves but together they will help you understand the basics.

I want to be seen on the first page of Google!

Being seen in the search engines is easy as long as you know what you need to spend per click and you are willing to spend it. Decide which keywords matter to you and bid them high enough to be competitive. Monitor the number of impressions as well as your impression share. You want your impression share to be at 98% or better. To be consistently seen, you should try to maintain an average position of 5 or higher. If your impression share is low, you need to increase your bids or increase your daily budget. If you are using up your daily budget, you might also consider limiting when your ads are running to weekdays, weekends or working hours only.

I want to be at the top of Google!

If you want to be at the top of the first page on Google you must be willing to spend more per click than everyone competing in your market space. Select keywords that you know people use when looking for the service or product you sell. Bid high and be sure you have the budget to afford being in the top spot. First position ads get more clicks and can eat up your daily budget really fast.  Once your campaign starts, monitor your average CPC, average position and impression share. If your average position is not 1 or 1.x, you should bid higher. There are other things you can do to improve performance, but by simply bidding higher than your competitors you can be assured that your ad will appear in the top position as long as you have not exhausted your daily budget.

I want to sell more widgets or get more leads!

If you are selling widgets or looking for leads you will want to setup conversion tracking. You can do this in Google Adwords and Microsoft adCenter but recent changes make tracking conversion (goals) easier in Google Analytics. In order to know whether your PPC campaign is doing its job, conversions should be your number one metric with everything else secondary. Most companies track form completions or e-commerce purchases but you can also track phone call conversions. Phone call tracking is especially important for companies focused on leads rather than sales. With custom scripts loaded on your website, you can present unique phone numbers to visitors who clicked on your PPC ads. For as little as $100 a month, you can track how many phone-based conversions come from your ad campaigns as well as organic SEO and other online channels. It’s another dimension that helps you understand how your online marketing affects your real world sales.

Variety is the spice of life

Every marketer has their own goals and their own ways of managing PPC campaigns. And everyone has their own ways of measuring success. As you begin to learn the ins and outs of PPC marketing, you will learn how campaigns work and what metrics are important to your success. Remember that PPC marketing combines art and science to deliver results. It’s not perfect but it can deliver great results as long as you keep working at it and keep an eye on the metrics. Understand the metrics and you will know whether your campaign is working or not. Understand the metrics and you will know if your goals are being met.

Courtesy of an article dated December 17, 2015 appearing in Studio-40 and an article dated June 26, 2013 appearing in FindAndConvert

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MARKETERS' FAVORITE SEO TACTICS AND METRICS

Marketers say creating relevant content is the most effective search engine optimization tactic they employ, according to a recent report from Ascend2.

The report was based on data from a survey of 286 marketing, sales, and business professionals from around the world (71%, B2B-focused; 29%, B2C).

Some 72% of respondents say content creation is one of the most effective SEO tactics they employ; other top tactics are keyword/phrase research (48% cite), frequent website updating (34%), and relevant link building (33%).

Most effective SEO tactics:

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Below, additional key findings from the report.

Most Challenging Tactics

• 52% of respondents say relevant link-building is one of the most difficult SEO tactics they employ.
• 46% say relevant content creation is one of the most difficult tactics.

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Most Useful Metrics

• 54% of respondents say website traffic is one of the most useful metrics for measuring SEO performance.
• 50% say leads generated is one of the most useful metrics.

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Challenges

• 40% of respondents say changing search algorithms is one of the biggest obstacles to SEO success.
• 38% say budget constraints is one of the biggest obstacles.

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About the research: The report was based on data from a survey of 286 marketing, sales, and business professionals from around the world (71% B2B-focused; 29% B2C).

COMMENTARY:    It's 2015 and SEO hasn't gotten any easier for digital marketers. With Google's Panda and Penguin algorithm updates that have happened in the past few years, it's no surprise that the search engine optimization aspect of digital marketing is constantly changing.

This volatility requires digital marketers to be agile with their tactics, frequently adapting to the latest guidelines that search engines implement into their algorithms. Here are nine SEO tactics that simply don't work or don't work as well as before.

1) Get more links to rank higher

In the past, building as many links as possible without analyzing the linking domain was how SEO typically worked. By doing this, your website was sure to rank higher. Building links is still a very important part of ranking factors. According to Search Metrics, it is still top 5 most important rankings factors, but you must build links in a much different manor than you used to.

Around Penguin 2.0, which was released in May of 2013, all of this changed. Nowadays, it is important to focus on the quality of links you are obtaining, rather than the quantity. Sometimes less can be more if you know how exactly to build links the proper way.

2) Write keyword rich content for better ranking

It used to be important that you write your content with the keyword incorporated exact match, but now Google uses latent semantic indexing (LSI), which was conceived around February of 2004 and became more and more prominent within search through every update.

With this type of indexing, the contents of a webpage are crawled by the search engine and the most common words or phrases are combined and identified as the keywords of that page. LSI also looks for synonyms that related to your target keywords.

Today, it's important to optimize your page for the user experience; this means that you do not have to place your keywords word-for-word in the content. Write the content for the user. By using synonyms and related terms, the search engines will still understand what your goal is.

3) Only focus on links and content

About 5 years ago, SEO used to be all about getting tons of links, good code, and okay content. These days, most of the websites that are ranking really well have a large social following. People argue whether it directly or indirectly affects rankings, but either way it does have an impact.

Think of it this way, the more popular your website is socially, the more eyeballs you will draw to it. The more people see it, the more backlinks and traffic you will receive. Additionally, social media is a great way to send out content and get the traction you are looking for.

4) Build more pages to get more traffic

Some people have the notion that if you have more pages, you will get more traffic to your website. Just like link building, creating content just to have more pages will not help you. Make sure you are focusing your content on quality, not quantity. If you do not have good content, you will not rank well and all of those pages you created will not help your cause.

Introduced February, 2011, Google’s Panda algorithm updates have been getting better and better at detecting bad content. Nowadays, if you have poor content it is possible you may face a Google penalty, so make sure you are created great content that users want to read.

5) Rank higher to get more traffic

There is a big misconception that higher rankings mean more search traffic. It is true that people will see your listing, but it does not mean you will get more click-throughs. There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. You do not have the correct keyword strategy because you are trying to rank for keywords that are unrelated to your field.
2. Your meta descriptions are not appealing and inviting for the user.

To solve these problems, try using Google Adwords to create a great keyword strategy relating to your business, and be sure to use enticing meta descriptions to get people to the site. It is a good rule of thumb to think about what would entice you to click through.

6) Guest blog at a large scale to build SEO authority

Before Penguin 2.0, in 2013, people used to write content, whether bad or good, to anybody that would listen, with a link back to their site. A lot of the time, it was content that had nothing to do with their actual industry; they were just trying to get a backlink.

Guest blogging has changed immensely since then. Now it is important that if you do end up getting one or two guest posts here and there, that they are high authoritative, relevant websites. Guest posting on a smaller scale can be beneficial if you do it the correct, ethical way.

7) Fill the title tag with keywords to increase ranking

Keyword stuffing is the act of shoving as many keywords onto the page as possible. Google’s own, Matt Cutts, warned us in 2007 against stuffing your page with keywords to rank higher in the search results. Some webmasters did not take this to heart, until Google continuously came out with new algorithm updates, like Panda, every year that were meant to target bad content.

Keyword stuffing is 100% against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and is a dangerous game. Because of Google’s algorithm getting more advanced each year, you are likely to get your website penalized.

8) Don't waste time on including images in your content

For a long time, it was okay to neglect the images on your site and still rank without using alt text and image file names to boost your page relevance. On-page SEO is more important than ever, so excluding images will prevent your website's SEO from being the best it can be.

Search engines cannot see images on websites, so it is important to give the image an alt text and relevant file name to ensure Google knows what the image is about. By not creating this text, you lose a huge opportunity to be as visible as possible online.

9) Get listed in lots of directories to fill your backlinks profile

On April 24, 2012, Google released the first Penguin algorithm update, which targeted websites with unnatural links and has since gotten more sophisticated. It is important that webmasters and marketing ensure they are not just getting a ton of links from low-quality spammy directory website.

Instead focus on niche related directories that have strict standards and high authority that will benefit your personas by getting quality information about your company’s mission and website. It is pretty easy to decided which directories are natural and which are unnatural, and if you cannot decide do not risk it!

If you are using any of these worthless tactics, it is time for you to clean up your SEO and create a better strategy. Go out there are create great content and create high authoritative, relevant backlinks to your website.

Courtesy of an article dated June 29, 2015 appearing in MarketingProfs and an article dated June 26, 2015 appearing in Hubspot Blogs

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GOOGLE ANNOUNCES NEW ANDROID M O/S, REPLACES ANDROID 5.0, WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR USERS Q3 2015

Google has just made the next version of Android official. During the Google I/O 2015 keynote address, Google unveiled that Android M will succeed Android Lollipop this year. Google says that Android M, which is debuting as a prerelease version today with a full release later this year, brings a host of new features and performance enhancements. But at the same time, Google's Sundar Pichai says the company has "gone back to the basics" and improved quality of the platform. Where Android 5.0 Lollipop introduced a new design and interface, M appears to be focused on improving the stability and usability of the software. Google isn't saying what the version number or name of M will be just yet, but it is showing of a lot of what will be part of the update.

Here are some of the major improvements and upgrades of Android M:

• Redesigned apps permissions system.
• New "Chrome Custom Tabs" that allow developers to insert webviews directly in their apps.
• Upgrade to Android's built-in app linking system (also known as "intents").
• New payments system called Android Pay that uses NFC and Host Card Emulation.
• Better battery life with a new feature called Doze which manages background processes to save juice.
• Addition of native USB-Type C support for better charging.
• Integration with Google's Now on Tap digital assistant and Brillo "Internet of Things" OS when these two apps come out in Q3 2015.
• Addition of fingerprint recognition similar to Apple iOS.

Dave Burke, vice president of engineering at Google, says that the company has been watching what device makers have been adding to Android and is folding a lot of those ideas into the core system. There are six new areas that Google has focused on with M, ranging from new features to improved performance and efficiency.

 

One of the big parts of Android M is a redesigned apps permissions system. Users will be able to approve or deny security permissions, such as camera or location access, on a case by case basis. There are only eight categories of permissions available to apps now, and the apps will ask for them as they need them. That's different from how Android current works, which asks users to approve all permissions at once when the app is installed. It's also very similar to how Apple has handle app permissions in iOS for years. Apps will not have to ask for permissions with every update, either.

For Android M, Google is also revamping the web browsing experience with its Chrome browser. A new feature called "Chrome Custom Tabs" lets developers insert webviews directly in their apps, giving them the full power of Chrome without having to force the user to switch apps. Chrome features like automatic sign-in, saved passwords, autofill, and multi-process security are all now available to app developers within their apps.  

Android's built-in app linking system (also known as "intents") is also getting an upgrade, allowing apps to open content directly instead of stopping users with a dialog box every time. For example, if you click a Twitter link in an email, the Twitter app will open directly instead of asking you if you want to use Twitter to view it.

Android M is introducing a new payments system called Android Pay. It uses NFC and Host Card Emulation for tap-to-pay services and essentially takes the place of the current Google Wallet app. Developers will also be able to integrate Android Pay into their apps for in-app payments and purchases.

Google says that Android Pay will be preinstalled on AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile devices and it will be accepted in 700,000 stores in the US. Android Pay will also natively support fingerprint scanners, such as the one installed on Samsung's Galaxy S6, as opposed to leaving it up to device makers to support it themselves. It works with any device running KitKat or newer.

It seems that Google promises better battery life and efficiency with every new version of Android, and of course, Android M is no different. M will bring a new feature called Doze, which lets the system manage background processes better. It relies on motion detection to determine when someone is using a device, and shuts down processes when activity hasn't been detected for a period of time. Burke says that this has extended the standby time of the Nexus 9 tablet by up to two times over Android Lollipop.

Android M also introduces native USB Type-C support, which allows for faster and easier charging. It also lets users charge other devices with their Android phone, which isn't something any of us have asked for, but it's there.

Google is also addressing a lot of the usability nags that have plagued Android for years with M. Little things like volume control and copy and paste are allegedly improved, and Burke calls M the "most polished Android release to date."

 

But it's apparently not ready to be taken out of the oven yet. As with last year's Android L early release, Google is making M available as a developer preview for the Nexus 5, 6, 9, and Nexus Player, with a full release later this year. The company expects developers and early adopters to test the system over the next few months to find bugs and improve stability before it's released to the public. Google says that more information and updates will come during the preview period this year, which was a pain point for many during the Lollipop preview.

Google is promising a lot with M, and if you've been following the progress of Android for a while, it's a lot of stuff you've probably heard before. Hopefully this time around Google hits the right stride between new features and stability that make for a truly exceptional mobile platform. The company is also introducing a number of new platforms and systems that tie in to Android and work with Android devices, such as the Brillo internet of things platform and the new Now on Tap search features.

COMMENTARY:   It seems that Android has always lagged behind Apple iOS, but Android M is has played catchup with the addition of fingerprint recognition and better battery life management. However, what really separates Android M from iOS is the addition of Google Now on Tap knowledged-based digital personal assistant and Brillo "Internet of Things" OS which will integrate seamlessly with Android M.  The latter will be able to control appliances, open and close door locks, and turn on and off alarm systems, etc.  It is too bad that we have to wait another three months while Android developers tinker and experiment with Android M to identify problems and stability issues.  One shouldn't forget that Apple is due to announce iOS 9 in July.  You can bet they have a few surprises that will keep Apple ahead of the curve when it comes to competition with Google Android.     

Courtesy of an article dated May 28, 2015 appearing in The Verge

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GOOGLE'S PLAN TO USE ITS 'NOW' DIGITAL ASSISTANT AND KNOWLEDGE GRAPH, TO MAKE APPS OBSOLETE AND CONTROL THE WEB

Aparna Chennapragada, director of Google Now for Google Inc., speaks during the Google I/O Annual Developers Conference in San Francisco, California.  Courtesy of DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES

GOOGLE SHOWED OFF any number of potentially revolutionary technologies at its I/O developer conference keynote Thursday, May 28, 2015. There was Jump, a platform for generating 3D virtual reality content, and Brillo, Google’s operating system for the "Internet of Things," and its latest entrant into the smart-home horse race. But the company’s most important announcement was the evolution of a technology that’s nearly three years old. It laid out a course for making apps obsolete and getting users back onto the web, where Google is master. And that course is paved by Google Now.

Getting To Now

Google Now project manager Aparna Chennapragada presented a vision for Now in which it not only provides all the information you could possibly need, but also knows when you need it and in what form. That’s always been the logical path forward for Android’s digital assistant. But Now was limited by its ability to draw info primarily from Google services like Gmail and Maps. No longer. Last month, the company announced new integrations with 70 services; at I/O, Chennapragada confirmed the number now tops 100.

 

More impressive, though, might be Google Now’s contextual awareness, its ability to know where you are and what you might need there.  Chennapragada said during her presentation.

“We understand more than 100 million places.  Not just their physical layout and geometry, but also interesting things like when are they busy, when are they open, and what are you likely to need when you’re there.”

Those answers are summoned from the depths of Google’s knowledge graph, a collection of over one billion entities (sports teams, recipes, gas station locations, and so on) that might be useful to you even if you didn’t realize it. They’re also increasingly supplied by information housed in third-party apps—apps you have less and less reason to visit as Google Now becomes smarter and smarter. It goes beyond pure information, too; you can play Pandora stations in Google Now, or order groceries from Instacart.

That’s the shorthand version of where Google’s digital assistant is today; a one-stop shop for many—if not all—your mobile needs.  Forrester Research mobile analyst Michael Facemire says. 

“We hear about glanceable moments when it comes to the Watch quite a bit.  But there are glanceable moments on your phone as well, and that’s what Google Now is great for.”

That alone would be enough to signal Google’s interest in making apps far less essential, if not removing the need for them entirely. But it’s the new stuff in Google Now—coupled with a few other Google announcements—that speaks to just how far from the app ecosystem Google wants to move.

Google Now on Tap screenshots (Clik Image To Enlarge)

Tap Dancing

The marquee new Google Now feature is Now on Tap, which allows developers to integrate the service’s contextual brilliance into their own offerings. It’s neat! In an example Google provided during the keynote, if you send a text about your dry cleaning, a tap and hold will bring up information about the dry cleaner, including a “smart reminder card” to bug you about picking it up. In another example, an email about Tomorrowland brought information about the movie.

 

This could be hugely useful to users. But the reason it’s useful is it negates the need to leave whatever app you happen to be in to open another. You stay in your message client, you stay in email. You don’t waste time going next door for a cup of sugar; Google Now makes the sugar magically appear in front of you.

The combined power of the dedicated Google Now app and Now on Tap will leave little reason to juggle apps, or even have many installed on your phone. Most of what you might need them for flows through Google anyway. And as Google continues to index the information within those apps, it’s easy to envision a scenario in which it’s providing information that’s more than just glanceable.

Such consolidation brings some counterintuitive results; while it’s certainly bad for apps, there’s plenty of potential upside for the services that power them. If nothing else, it’s another chance to be seen by a wider audience, one not dictated by your ranking in the Google Play store.  Facemire says.

“From a developer perspective, I look at it as new opportunities.  I can provide Google with my data sources and let them take care of the card UI, and when to present it. It provides an additional opportunity for my content to be seen.”

Meanwhile, Google provides a frictionless mobile experience for its users, while collecting scads of previously unavailable data about them. That data goes on to power the sort of machine learning and deep neural networks that drive Google Now, and more importantly to feed the Google ad-serving machine, which still accounts for 90 percent of the company’s revenue.

It’s not all good news for app-makers. Information that you provide that ends up in Google Now can’t be monetized, and there’s no guarantee you’ll fare any better under the assistive card-based paradigm than you did in the Play Store. Or that even if you do pop up in front of new users you’ll be able to convert any of them.

Still, the marginalization of apps doesn’t necessarily mean a similar fate for the companies that make them. Google still needs sources to pull those recipes and gas station locations and everything else from. For now, anyway. It just doesn’t need them in that particular packaging.

Google Now on Tap screenshots (Click Image To Enlarge)

Back To the Web

What makes Google Now’s pull away from apps even more compelling is that it was joined at I/O by a series of gentle pushes in the same direction. Google’s doing everything it can to get us all back to the web.  Facemire says.

“One of the subtle undertones that we got throughout this morning was, ‘Look at all these things you can do on the web.  The web is the underlying architecture behind everything Google is doing, even on Android.”

The web-positive tweaks at I/O were too numerous to list comprehensively; they permeated the presentation. The new Google Photos enables easy sharing directly from the web. Polymer 1.0 enables developers to make web apps that feel just like native apps. Google SVP Sundar Pichai’s periodic onstage appearances were a reminder that the Chrome, Android, and Google Apps teams are overseen by the same man.

The appeal of the web to a company like Google is obvious, says Facemire.

“It’s ubiquitous, and it’s something that the other manufacturers and operating system providers can’t edge Google out of. The web is for everyone; it’s always going to be there.”

The logical extension of that, of course, is that the more places Google can be, the more integral it can be to our lives, and the more data it can vacuum up to monetize. The web didn’t die after all; it just looks more and more like what we thought would replace it.

Which is what makes apps so contrary to Google’s future, and Google Now so vital. Apps put information in little cages you can visit when you feel like it. Google Now lets that information roam free, to find whomever might need it most.

COMMENTARY:   I have always looked at Google as the true sinister "Big Brother" depicted in that Apple commercial conceived by the late Steve Jobs.  Yes, the government is keeping track of us thanks to the Patriot Act and the illegal electronic wiretaps of the NSA, CIA and FBI.  However, this move by Google to use Google Now on Tap to provide users with direct access to every and all information contained in Google's massive knowledgebase will almost insure that apps will eventually die out, and most importantly insure that Google becomes the Master of the Internet knowledgebase.  

If Internet users can go to Google's all-powerful knowledgebase for their information fix no matter where they are, and do this using their mobile devices, it is effectively keeping you glued to Google.I It is an underhanded move by Google to monopolize the Internet, and it is going to find a way to make money from you through ads it will drop in on you along the way.  

Google already knows a lot about our online behaviors, and Google Now on Tap will insure that we are glued to Google like an addict hooked on heroin.  This is as masterful a move as I have seen in a long time.  You might not appear as apparent to you right now, but over time, if they can execute their strategy to make you dependent on Google Now on Tap for any kind of information you can imagine, then they have effectively monopolized the internet and put apps on the backburner, depriving app developers of their ability to build a knowledgebase of their own, and maximize their income streams via advertising.  Google will grab that advertising too.

Google Now on Tap will only work on Google M, the new Android operating system (also announced at Google I/O 2015) that will replace Google Lollipop, but it won't be available until sometime in Q3 2015.   This will be great if you already have a phone using Google Lollipop or Android 5.0.    

I wonder how Android app developers are going to react to what appears to be an internet "land grab" and "kidnapping" of their app users along the way.  I have a feeling that an Android developer rebellion is going to occur, once they see what Google is up to.  Only time will tell, keep tuned. 

Courtesy of an article dated May 29, 2015 appearing in Wired and an article dated May 28, 2015 appearing in The Verge

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WSJ: GOOGLE WILL ADD BUY BUTTONS TO SEARCH RESULTS ON MOBILE

Google's getting ready to face Amazon and eBay, according to The Wall Street Journal, and will be adding buy buttons directly to its search results. You'll see those buttons accompanying sponsored results under a "Shop on Google" heading -- they won't be used for non-sponsored links returned by the algorithm -- when you search for products on mobile devices. Upon clicking one, a separate product page will load where you can pick sizes, colors and ultimately complete your purchase. Any product you buy will still come straight from retailers, the WSJ says, so it doesn't sound like Google's stocking up warehouses with goods like Amazon does.

However, some major retailers are apparently worried that they'll get stuck with back-end order fulfillment with no real customer interaction. Since Google wants to remain in good terms with them (they are some of its largest advertisers, after all), it will give shoppers the choice subscribe to their marketing programs. That typically means mailing lists and the like, so the company's giving them access to customers' info, most likely names and addresses.

In addition, Google promised them that the product landing pages will be heavily branded with their names and will link to more of their products. The company also won't take a cut from their sales and will only get paid for every person that clicks their links. Mountain View will reportedly offer several payment options, "including digital payment methods from other providers," but it (thankfully) won't be giving retailers access to payment details. If you input credit card info to make a purchase, the website will save it for future transactions, but it will remain with the company.

As for why the feature will only be available on mobile, well, Google has a plethora of reasons. The biggest one is most likely the fact that more people now perform searches on their phones than on computers. According to the WSJ, you might spot a buy button or two as soon as the coming weeks. We don't have a list of official partners yet, since Google hasn't officially announced anything, but Macy's might be one of the first retailers available.

COMMENTARY:

Even though more people are shopping on their phones, the majority aren’t making actual purchases on mobile. Google’s solution: sponsored, mobile-only “buy” buttons that keep people on Google rather than sending them back to the retailer’s check-out page. The idea: People will buy more with a seamless checkout than they would if forced to wait for a retailer’s page to load and then go through a less user-friendly checkout process.

With the addition of a buy button, Google Shopping would go from being a simple search engine to being more of a middle-man. However, unlike companies such as Amazon, Google would not get a share of the profit, but more a pay per click profit.

Mobile Commerce Increasing

According to an eMarketer retail sales report, retail mcommerce is rising rapidly, steadily gaining a larger share of overall ecommerce.  

• In 2013, retail mcommerce—which includes products and services ordered on mobile devices, including tablets—increased 70.0% to reach $42.13 billion.
• In 2014 eMarketer estimates that figure will increase another 37.2% to total $57.79 billion, or about one-fifth of all retail ecommerce sales and 1.2% of total retail sales. In 2014, tablet sales will account for nearly two-thirds of mcommerce sales, eMarketer predicts, increasing to nearly 75% by the end of our forecast period.
• By the end of 2015, eMarketer estimates that total US retail mcommerce sales will reach $76.41 billion or 22% of total US ecommerce sales.   

Click Image To Enlarge

As more consumers use their mobile devices to conduct online searches for product reviews and price comparisons using search engines and recommendations from friends on social networks, it makes sense to incorporate call-to-action motivators like buy buttons.        

What does this mean for smaller ecommerce stores?

Of course, with the release of these rumors, many smaller ecommerce store owners are worried that this means they will see a dip in sales, as Google will provide linkage with large retailers instead of smaller companies. Rumors state that Macy’s is already in talks to join the new program,

Furthermore, many retailers are afraid that they will lose out on a very important customer relationship if everything is handled by Google.

What will Google do to calm the storm?

According to The Wall Street Journal, ecommerce store owners will be able to continue with the same marketing programs that they have running on their own sites, in other words this will allow retailers to get access to customer’s contact information, for future marketing purposes. Furthermore, Google will brand  the product pages with links to the ecommerce store, finally sources state that recommendations for future purchases will only be shown from the retailer providing the product.

What is the upside?

One of the most difficult areas for ecommerce owners to succeed in is mobile sales, many ecommerce owners see much of their traffic coming from desktops, with the mobile purchase process still in its infancy.

According to research, many shoppers search for products on their smartphones, but then switch to their desktop computers to make the final purchase. One of the reasons for this is, that it is still relatively difficult to fill out a whole purchase form from a smartphone. However, if Google was to make the whole process more seamless, then perhaps retailers participating in Google’s buy now program would gain a major advantage as they would see mobile sales grow exponentially.

What is the downside?

Jason Goldberg, V.P. of Strategy at Razorfish says.  

“While it’s a good feature, it definitely isn’t a no-brainer that all retailers should invest in because a whole set of issues can come with transactions on a third-party platform."  

Other issues include Google’s sponsored ads might not be able to keep up with stock quantities or backorders and shoppers will be subjected to Google’s less specialized customer service.

Keeping Up With The Competition

In December 11, 2014, Facebook announced the addition of new "Call-To-Action" features to Facebook pages.  This includes a "Shop Now" feature that will allow brands to convert fans into buyers from ads running in the newsfeed.    On September 8, 2014, Twitter announced that it was testing "buy buttons" in tweets.     

Twitter says artists, brands and non-profits taking part in the test include Burberry, DonorsChoose, Pharrel among other, and their followers will get offers and merchandise not available elsewhere. They can complete the transaction in a couple taps.

Courtesy of an article dated May 16, 2015 appearing in Engadget, an article dated May 24, 2015 appearing in EcommercePlatforms, an article dated April 10, 2014 appearing in eMarketer, and an article dated May 19, 2015 appearing in Digiday

8 OF GOOGLE'S CRAZIEST OFFICES, DESIGNED TO FOSTER AND ENABLE INNOVATION

GOOGLE IS KNOWN FOR ITS ZANY OFFICE DESIGNS, FROM STROOPWAFEL CEILINGS TO SLIDES TO SCOOTERS. AND YOU THOUGHT YOUR OFFICE'S FOOSBALL TABLE WAS COOL.

While most of us 9-to-5ers hunch over in boxy, fluorescent-lit cubicles, feeling lucky if our office has a snack machine, the Google employees of the world are zooming around on scooters, slipping down tube slides, playing on their indoor putting greens, and gloating about the awesomeness of their offices. If they can even be called offices--the designs of these nerd playgrounds so outclass your average corral of homogenous desks that we had to round them all up in a grand, jealousy (and sometimes eye-roll)-inducing slide show, on the occasion of Google unveiling its new Mexico headquarters. As one Google spokesperson told the New York Times, designers of Google offices have but one goal: “to create the happiest, most productive workplace in the world.” Marvel at the most over-the-top workspaces of Google’s big happy techie family and lament not being better at computer science.

NEW YORK CITY

The off-the-wall design of this conference room in Google's New York City office uses cutaways of old iron bathtubs as sofas. (Click Image To Enlarge)

Occupying an entire city block, the New York-themed amusement park of Google’s Chelsea-based headquarters has hallways decorated with subway grates and fire hydrants, graffiti’d conference room doors, and chandeliers made of meat hooks, a nod to the nearby Meatpacking District. One conference room is set up like a tiny Seinfeldian New York apartment--think exposed brick, an electronic drum set, and awkward family photos on the wall. Victorian-style portraits of Star Wars characters decorate the library. Scooters provide its 3,000 employees transportation around the 2.9-million-square-foot building, which welcomes dogs.

GOOGLE NEW YORK -- Google’s Chelsea-based headquarters has hallways decorated with subway grates and fire hydrants, graffiti’d conference room doors, and chandeliers made of meat hooks. (Click Image To Enlarge)

GOOGLE NEW YORK -- Google's New York headquarters features a digital bookshelf. (Click Image To Enlarge)

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

GOOGLE AMSTERDAM -- Designed by local studio DDOCK, the Amsterdam office designs take inspiration from their location’s cultural history and visual flavor, capturing the playfulness inherent in so much Dutch design. (Click Image To Enlarge)

Designed by local studio D/DOCK, Google’s Amsterdam office designs also take inspiration from their location’s cultural history and visual flavor, capturing the playfulness inherent in so much Dutch design. The ceiling panels are designed to look like stroopwafels--that quintessentially Dutch gooey waffle-cookie. Maybe Googlers draw inspiration from sugar cravings? 1960s caravans serve as meeting rooms, complete with lawn chairs and fake grills.

GOOGLE AMSTERDAM -- The ceiling panels are designed to look like stroopwafels--that quintessentially Dutch gooey waffle-cookie. Maybe Googlers draw inspiration from sugar cravings. (Click Image To Enlarge)

DUBLIN, IRELAND

GOOGLE DUBLIN -- Top that with veritable jungles decorating workspaces, and Google's downright Dr. Seussian Dublin campus is possibly the most playground-like in the whole family. (Click Image To Enlarge)

Office foosball tables are old '90s startup news, but an office putting green? Top that with veritable jungles decorating workspaces, and Google's Dr. Seussian Dublin campus is possibly the most playground-like in the whole family.

GOOGLE DUBLIN -- Google's Dublin office is a spunky, brightly colored playground for nerds. (Click Image To Enlarge)

GOOGLE DUBLIN -- Lounge chairs, pool tables, and interesting light fixtures abound, all of which help create a relaxing, fun-filled work environment. (Click Image To Enlarge)

GOOGLE DUBLIN -- Office foosball tables are old '90s startup news, but an office putting green. (Click Image To Enlarge)

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL

GOOGLE TEL AVIV -- And, of course, there are Space-Age egg chairs. (Click Image To Enlarge)

Occupying eight floors of the Electra Tower in Tel Aviv, these offices look like what elves and fairies might build if they held board meetings. Designed by Camenzind Evolution in collaboration with Setter Architects and Studio Yaron Tal, the office features Space-Age egg chairs, ivy and flower-covered walls, shag carpeting, a Lego room, a tube slide between floors, and a view of the Mediterranean sea from the rooftop deck.

GOOGLE TEL AVIV -- Occupying eight floors of the Electra Tower in Tel Aviv, these offices look like what elves and fairies might build if they held board meetings. (Click Image To Enlarge)

GOOGLE TEL AVIV -- The office features ivy and flower-covered walls, shag carpeting, a Lego room, a tube slide between floors, and a view of the Mediterranean sea. (Click Image To Enlarge)

LONDON, ENGLAND

GOOGLE LONDON -- Google's London locale is anglophilic dreamhouse fit for Mr. Bean himself. (Click Image To Enlarge)

The trifecta of Google offices in London range from a space station-like space that seems straight out of a Stanley Kubrick movie to this happy kiddie funhouse to a decidedly homey anglophilic dreamhouse fit for Mr. Bean himself.

GOOGLE LONDON -- A conference room at Google London's 'Super HQ' (Click Image To Enlarge)

GOOGLE LONDON -- Google London's cafeteria offers employees a seeting area where they can meet in small groups. (Click Image To Enlarge)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA

The original global headquarters in Mountain View, California, the heart of Silicon Valley, is a sprawling, sun-drenched campus known as the Googleplex. (Click Image To Enlarge)

The original global headquarters in Mountain View, California, the heart of Silicon Valley, is a sprawling, sun-drenched campus known as the Googleplex. “It’s easy to feel like we’re back in college,” Googlers brag in their career page's description of the campus. Here’s why: hundreds of bikes and scooters provide transportation from the conference rooms to the bowling alley, the climbing wall, beach volleyball, and weekly “TGIF” celebrations. Whether hacky sacks are involved in those celebrations, we don't want to know.

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA

This hanging netting makes the perfect place to hack, come up with new ideas or just relax at Google's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia office. (Click Image To Enlarge)

Google toned down the Google for its Pittsburgh headquarters, opting for exposed pipes and peeled paint to channel the Steel City's rough-and-tumble vibe.

GOOGLE PITTSBURGH -- For their Pittsburgh headquarters, Google opted for exposed brick and peeled paint to channel the Steel City's rough-and-tumble vibe. (Click Image To Enlarge)

GOOGLE PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh office fills the penthouse of a 100-year-old Nabisco factory with pool tables and other crucial aids to techie focus. (Click Image To Enlarge)

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

In this hammock filled room in Google's Zurich, Switzerland office, employees hang from hammocks or slings to hack, read, invent or just relax. (Click Image To Enlarge)

Zurich Google employees are called Zooglers. And they're virtually required to contract Peter Pan Syndrome in this fireman pole, slide, videogame, and hammock-filled workspace.

COMMENTARY:   No wonder Google seems to get the most talented software engineers and talent from around the world.  Google offices are no ordinary by any means, but represent a sort of fantasy land for hackers.  

Courtesy of an article dated April 10, 2014 appearing in Fast Company Design

CHECK OUT GOOGLE'S NEW $82 MILLION CORPORATE JET FACILITY

THE NEW GOOGLE COMPLEX WILL REPORTEDLY BE THE ONE OF THE LARGEST SINGLE-CLIENT CORPORATE AIR FACILITIES IN THE WORLD.

Google executives love to fly, and they fly a lot. A recent NASA report by the space agency's inspector general found chartered jets shuttling GOOG higher-ups received discounted fuel from the federal government that they weren't entitled to; there's now talk of Google paying some of that money back. But Google may get to experience every Fortune 500 company's wildest travel dream next month: A $82 million jet center dedicated to executives' private planes.

Exterior view of the new Google private jet facility. (Click Image To Enlarge)

In January, groundbreaking is expected to take place on a 29-acre facility featuring approximately 270,000 square feet of hangar space. The huge swath of space will effectively become a separate airport for Google executives and other tech muckety-mucks; private aviation support firm Signature Flight Support has a 50-year lease on the facility and will operate it with a partner named Blue City Holdings. In a statement, airport executives described San Jose-based Blue City as a "corporation representing the personal aircraft of the principals at Google" and explicitly said they would grant private airport section access to "other figures in the Silicon Valley business community as well."

The pickup and drop-off area for fliers on Google-affiliated jets and other tech industry high roller. (Click Image To Enlarge)

So why is a significant chunk of San Jose's airport being given over to a private corporation? The answer, as always, is capital. Mineta San Jose will make approximately $3 million annually by leasing the space to Signature and Blue City/Google; this means a cool $150 million for the airport over the coming decades. Mineta officials say the space will be home to the personal aircrafts of Google's principals; the area on the airport's west side has reportedly been underutilized for years. Documents published in February 2013 reveal that the new facility will create 36 permanent jobs, generate 370 "direct and indirect jobs," and eventually generate more than $300,000 in taxes annually, over and above the $3 million annual lease cost.

 
Runway view for the new Google private jet facility. (Click Image To Enlarge)

However, Google won't be the first corporate client moving into the Mineta site. The west side area slated for Blue Sky contains Hewlett Packard's corporate hangers, among other facilities. The new Google complex will reportedly be the one of the largest single-client corporate air facilities in the world. Much of the site slated to be developed by Signature is currently leased by aircraft giant Atlantic Aviation; Atlantic filed legal challenges against the city of San Jose in May 2013. The company, which runs charter and small plane facilities around the country, alleges San Jose didn't fulfill California environmental requirements when approving the Blue Sky/Google facility.

The complex will comply with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design guidelines. (Click Image To Enlarge)

So San Jose's getting money and Google is getting, in effect, its own private airport. Right now, Google principals like Larry Page and Eric Schmidt stash their aircraft at Moffett Field in Mountain View. Moffett, a landmark for travelers on California's Route 101, is operated by NASA and has been home to Google's informal aircraft fleet since 2007.

A rendering of the new terminal for Google-affiliated travelers.  (Click Image To Enlarge)

Earlier in this article, I mentioned a NASA report alleging that aircraft flying Google executives received steeply discounted fuel. The planes, operated by another Google-associated firm named H211, are alleged to have paid between $3.3 million and $5.3 million less than market rate for jet fuel. While NASA's report does not accuse H211 and Google of "intentional misconduct," it noted the prices "result(ed) in considerable savings for H211 and engendered a sense of unfairness and a perception of favoritism toward H211 and its owners." As of press time, it's unknown what the proposed Blue City-Google arrangement at Mineta San Jose will mean for the long-term future of H211's presence at Moffett Field.

[Images courtesy of Signature Flight Support]

COMMENTARY:     On December 11, 2011, The Mercury News reported the three top executives at Google, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt, are offering to pay $33 million to finish the restoration of the historic airship hangar at Moffett Field. The giant structure, built in the 1930s and called Hangar One, sits a few miles from the Googleplex and it’s well known the Google executives have special permission from NASA to park their jets at Moffett.

Google co-founders Sergey Brin (left), Larry Page (right) and Eric Schwartz. (Click Image To Enlarge)

The jets are not owned or operated by Google.  Instead, the 3 Google leaders operate the fleet through an LLC called H211. Google has no official relation with H211. Ken Ambrose, the Director of Operations for H211, announced the funding offer at a public meeting this week. He also complained that NASA, which owns Hangar One, has taken too long to respond to the offer.

On first glance, it sounds like a purely noble gesture by the Google trio. The building is in the middle of a project to strip toxic materials in its siding. Lack of taxpayer funding to complete the project has raised fears that could lead to the demolition of one of the world’s largest freestanding structures.

But, as the Mercury News reported, “There’s a catch: They want to use up to two-thirds of the floor space of the hangar to house their fleet of eight private jets.” Most of the members on the Hangar One committee, along with the local congresswoman, support the idea, although there is some concern about the public-private partnership.

But whoa. Wait a minute. The Google execs own eight jets? 2.6 jets per person, for the 2 co-founders and the executive chairman?

Google's private 767 jet. (Click Image To Enlarge)

In 2007, TechCrunch reported on the Google execs first jet, a modified Boeing 767 and the controversy it created. (See Search Engine Land’s Guide To The Google Jet for more info.) In addition to the Boeing 767-200, they own two Gulfstream Vs.

Later, in 2007, the team picked up another Boeing, a 757 this time. A NASA lease document with tenant H211 lists those four planes. (PDF: see Exhibit C) Images of the Google jets can be seen here. Despite some fake images appearing around the web, there’s no Google logo on the planes.

Google CEO Larry Page with his new wife onboard the Google private jet.  (Click Image To Enlarge)

In 2008, the New York Times reported they appear to have added a Dornier Alpha fighter jet to their fleet.

But, counting the fighter jet, that’s only 5 jets. What about the other 3? Perhaps, the Merc got the number wrong?

Thanks to a “Google Search,” two more articles came up confirming Ken Ambrose said “8″ planes at the meeting. One in the Mountain View Voice, and another with detailed notes of the Moffett Field Restoration Advisory Board subcommittee meeting on a Moffett Users website. At the meeting, a member of “Save Hangar One” said they don’t want to see “Google” in 200-foot letters on the hangar as part of the deal. Ambrose said the Google team didn’t want that either.

TechCrunch is trying to contact Mr. Ambrose for more information about the additional three jets.

The Google leaders and their friends are not the only ones using the jets. NASA conducts flights on the planes with its own researchers and equipment to gain scientific data. That deal was part of the unusual agreement with NASA allowing the Google team the use of Moffett Field, an airport closed to private aircraft. When that deal was announced, it raised concerns from the local community leaders opposed to expansion at Moffett. Other Silicon Valley private jet owners and users, who are not allowed to use the airport, couldn’t have been pleased either.

The Google jet fleet has been a source of fighting and controversy over the years. The Wall Street Journal reported on the lawsuits with its contractors and the famous dispute, settled by Schmidt, over what size beds the co-founders would have on the plane.

Of course, lots of CEOs and executives own or lease private jets. On one hand, the Google leaders can spend their money any way they please. Their time is valuable, and using the jets makes them more efficient. On the other hand, using private jets is not very environmentally friendly for leaders of a company that prides itself on being green. See Google Green.

Courtesy of an article dated December 16, 2013 appearing in Fast Company and an article dated December 11, 2011 appearing in TechCrunch

A GLIMPSE INSIDE GOOGLE'S $1 BILLION DOLLAR AND 1 MILLION SQUARE FOOT LONDON OFFICE -- 3 YEARS BEFORE IT OPENS

 

Google’s new London office, scheduled to open in 2016, will have an open-air swimming pool, an indoor football pitch, a climbing wall and a roof garden from which to watch trains glide out of Kings Cross station toward Cambridge or Hogwarts. Googlers can cycle right into the building and to the cycle store room, which is equipped with showers and lockers. Somewhere in the interstices, there will also be desks to work at.

View of St Pancras.  Photo courtesy of INK-Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (Click Image To Enlarge)

The 1-million-sqare-foot office will sit on 2.4 acres of land between Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations. When the deal was announced in January, it was one of the biggest commercial property acquisitions in Britain. Reutersreports Google will spend £650 million ($1.05 billion) to buy and develop the site, with an eventual worth of £1 billion.

The 2.4 acre site sits between Kings Cross station (top), St Pancras Station (bottom) and Central Saint Martins art school (left). Photo courtesy of Rob Parrish-Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (Click Image To Enlarge)

So why is Google splashing the cash on this much space? The cynical answer is because it can: Google needs to do something with all those billions of dollars it has earned outside the U.S. because it can’t bring them home without a whopper of a tax bill. The more philosophical answer is that the nature of work is changing — at least for those companies that can afford it.

Interior offices.  Photo courtesy of INK-Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (Click Image To Enlarge)

Conventional wisdom has it that technology has made offices leaner.  Manual labor has been eliminated, paper files have been replaced by digital ones, and people can work remotely.  Yet that is precisely why Google needs as much space as it does — the swimming pool, the football pitch and the free lunches are meant to entice workers into the office, to keep them there, to eliminate reasons for staying away.  Tech companies take as much space as old economy firms — they just use it differently.

Googlers can cycle right into the building to the 20,000-square-foot bike shed.  Photo courtesy of INK-Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.  (Click Image To Enlarge)

Simon Allford of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, the London architects building Google’s HQ says.  

“The idea is that the people who are in the building — not the tenant but the actual staff — need to be attracted to the building. They need to like the community of the building.” 

Parts of the office, such as the promenade running through the building, will be open to the public.  Photo courtesy of INK-Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.  (Click Image To Enlarge)

That’s also why Google chose to put its building at Kings Cross. Central Saint Martins, an art school, is just over the canal.  The Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research center, is coming there in 2015.  The British Library, home to one of the world’s largest collections of knowledge, is up the road. And Googlers with a decent pair of binoculars should be able to read tomorrow’s news being typed out at the Guardian’s offices on the other side of Kings Cross. When complete, the neighborhood will have one of the highest concentrations of brilliant, creative people in London.

The canal is all that separates Google from 3,500 art students.  Photo courtesy of INK-Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.  (Click Image To Enlarge)

Allford says. 

“The point is if there’s 3,500 students, they [Googlers] might form a relationship with Central Saint Martins.  You come to a city to meet people who aren’t like you, who are different and have different ways of seeing the world.  The street life is incredibly important for why you live in a city. Taking that idea of life into the building and social space and what Google call positive friction. You want people to get to their desk and do work, you want them to get around, but you don’t want them to miss each other.”

The plan is to make an office so nice you never want to leave.  Photo courtesy of INK-Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.  (Click Image To Enlarge)

It is also plugged into larger networks. From Kings Cross, Googlers can get to Cambridge, home to Britain’s tech hardware sector and chipmakers such as ARM — or Microsoft Research, which is just outside Cambridge station — in 45 minutes. From St Pancras station, on the other side of Google’s HQ, they can take the Eurostar to Brussels (capital of the European Union and useful for lobbying eurocrats) or to Paris (Eurodisney) in just two hours.

Googlers could conceivably commute to work from bucolic Cambridge — or Paris.   Photo courtesy of INK-Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. (Click Image To Enlarge)

The building will remain inherently flexible, says Allford.

“We’ve talked with Google about theater, stage set, and props: The building is the theater. It lasts 100 years. The stage set is the auditorium. It lasts 20 years and is a building within the building. The props are — the little meeting rooms, the furniture, all this, which ideally you could reconfigure overnight.”

The idea is to have a dynamic, flexible space defined by the people who occupy it, not the other way around.

The building stretches 1,082 feet from end to end — as long as the Shard is tall.  Photo courtesy of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris.  (Click Image To Enlarge)

It can hold 4,500 employees, more than twice the total number of Googlers in London. The building will be ready in 2016. Until then, London-based Googlers will continue to be split between two offices at Victoria and one off Charing Cross Road.

Image: Martin Varsavsky

COMMENTARY:   Compared to Google's other offices here in the U.S. and overseas, the new Lonon headquarters office looks more corporate "steel and glass" than what we are accustomed to seeing.   Apple's new Spaceship headquarters building, now under construction, will cost $5 billion plus (latest estimate), but will house approximately 12,000 staffers.  That's an average of $416,667 per employee.  On the other hand, Google's new london office will cost $1 billion with a capacity to house 4,500 employees.  That's an average of $222,222 per employee.  That's considered a bargain given London's skyrocketing real estte prices.

Courtesy of an article dated November 1, 2013 appearing in Mashable

GOOGLE REPORTS Q3 2013 REVS OF $14.9 BIL, NET INC OF $2.97 BIL, BUT MOTOROLA LOSES $250 MIL IN SPITE OF MOTO X LAUNCH

On Friday, October 18, 2013, Google Inc (NASDAQ.GOOG) shares rose +122.61 to a new high of $1011.41 or +13.80% following a stellar Q3 2013 earnings report the day before (Click Image To Enlarge)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – October 17, 2013 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2013.

Larry Page, Google CEO said. 

“Google had another strong quarter with $14.9 billion in revenue and great product progress.  We are closing in on our goal of a beautiful, simple, and intuitive experience regardless of your device.”

Q3 Financial Summary

Google Inc. reported consolidated revenues of $14.89 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, an increase of 12% compared to the third quarter of 2012. Google Inc. reports advertising revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs (TAC). In the third quarter of 2013, TAC totaled $2.97 billion, or 24% of advertising revenues.

Operating income, operating margin, net income, and earnings per share (EPS) are reported on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. The non-GAAP measures, as well as free cash flow, an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity, are described below and are reconciled to the corresponding GAAP measures at the end of this release.

• GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2013 was $3.44 billion, or 23% of revenues. This compares to GAAP operating income of $2.74 billion, or 21% of revenues, in the third quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2013 was $4.34 billion, or 29% of revenues. This compares to non-GAAP operating income of $3.76 billion, or 28% of revenues, in the third quarter of 2012.
• GAAP net income including net income from discontinued operations in the third quarter of 2013 was $2.97 billion, compared to $2.18 billion in the third quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP net income in the third quarter of 2013 was $3.64 billion, compared to $2.96 billion in the third quarter of 2012.
• GAAP EPS including impact from net income from discontinued operations in the third quarter of 2013 was $8.75 on 339 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $6.53 in the third quarter of 2012 on 333 million diluted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP EPS in the third quarter of 2013 was $10.74, compared to $8.87 in the third quarter of 2012.
• Non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin exclude stock-based compensation (SBC) expense, as well as restructuring and related charges. Non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS exclude the expenses noted above, net of the related tax benefits, as well as net income or loss from discontinued operations. In the third quarter of 2013, the expense related to SBC and the related tax benefits were $886 million and $207 million compared to $706 million and $155 million in the third quarter of 2012. In the third quarter of 2013, restructuring and related charges and the related tax benefits were $12 million and $3 million, compared to $313 million and $67 million in the third quarter of 2012. In addition, net income from discontinued operations in the third quarter of 2013 was $15 million, compared to net income from discontinued operations of $18 million in the third quarter of 2012.

Click Image To Enlarge

Q3 Financial Highlights

Revenues and other information – On a consolidated basis, Google Inc. revenues for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 were $14.89 billion, an increase of 12% compared to the third quarter of 2012.

Google Segment Revenues – Google segment revenues were $13.77 billion, or 92% of consolidated revenues, in the third quarter of 2013, representing a 19% increase over third quarter 2012 Google segment revenues of $11.53 billion.

• Google Sites Revenues – Google-owned sites generated segment revenues of $9.39 billion, or 68% of total Google segment revenues, in the third quarter of 2013. This represents a 22% increase over third quarter 2012 Google sites segment revenues of $7.73 billion.
• Google Network Revenues – Google’s partner sites generated segment revenues of $3.15 billion, or 23% of total Google segment revenues, in the third quarter of 2013, compared to $3.13 billion of Google network segment revenues in the third quarter of 2012.
• Other Google Revenues – Other revenues from the Google segment were $1.23 billion, or 9% of total Google segment revenues, in the third quarter of 2013. This represents an 85% increase over third quarter 2012 other Google segment revenues of $666 million.

Google Revenues By Source by Quarter - Q1 2011 Through Q3 2013 - Business Insider (Click Image To Enlarge)

Google Segment International Revenues – Google segment revenues from outside of the United States totaled $7.67 billion, representing 56% of total Google segment revenues in the third quarter of 2013, compared to 55% in the second quarter of 2013 and 53% in the third quarter of 2012.

• Google segment revenues from the United Kingdom totaled $1.39 billion, representing 10% of total Google segment revenues in the third quarter of 2013, compared to 11% in the third quarter of 2012.

Google Revenues - U.S. vs International by Quarter - Q1 2011 Through Q3 2013 (Click Image To Enlarge)

Foreign Exchange Impact on Google Segment Revenues – Excluding gains related to our foreign exchange risk management program, had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the second quarter of 2013 through the third quarter of 2013, our Google segment revenues in the third quarter of 2013 would have been $41 million higher. Excluding gains related to our foreign exchange risk management program, had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the third quarter of 2012 through the third quarter of 2013, our Google segment revenues in the third quarter of 2013 would have been $135 million higher.

• In the third quarter of 2013, we recognized a benefit of $22 million to Google segment revenues through our foreign exchange risk management program, compared to $62 million in the third quarter of 2012.

Reconciliations of our non-GAAP international revenues excluding the impact of foreign exchange and hedging to GAAP international revenues are included at the end of this release.

Paid Clicks – Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our Network members, increased approximately 26% over the third quarter of 2012 and increased approximately 8% over the second quarter of 2013.

Cost-Per-Click – Average cost-per-click, which includes clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our Network members, decreased approximately 8% over the third quarter of 2012 and decreased approximately 4% over the second quarter of 2013.

TAC – Traffic acquisition costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google’s partners, increased to $2.97 billion in the third quarter of 2013, compared to $2.77 billion in the third quarter of 2012. TAC as a percentage of advertising revenues was 24% in the third quarter of 2013, compared to 26% in the third quarter of 2012.

The majority of TAC is related to amounts ultimately paid to our Network members, which totaled $2.22 billion in the third quarter of 2013. TAC also includes amounts ultimately paid to certain distribution partners and others who direct traffic to our website, which totaled $755 million in the third quarter of 2013.

Motorola Mobile Segment Revenues – Motorola Mobile segment revenues were $1.18 billion, or 8% of consolidated revenues in the third quarter of 2013, compared to $1.78 billion, or 13% of consolidated revenues in the third quarter of 2012.

Elimination and Other – Beginning in Q3 2013, Google and Motorola segment revenues are impacted by intersegment transactions that are eliminated in consolidation. Additionally, segment revenues associated with certain products were recognized this quarter in the segment results, but deferred to future periods in our consolidated financial statements. Such intersegment revenues and deferred revenues were $63 million in the third quarter of 2013.

Other Cost of Revenues – Other cost of revenues, which is comprised primarily of manufacturing and inventory-related costs, data center operational expenses, amortization of intangible assets, and content acquisition costs, increased to $3.44 billion, or 23% of revenues, in the third quarter of 2013, compared to $3.19 billion, or 24% of revenues, in the third quarter of 2012.

Operating Expenses – Operating expenses, other than cost of revenues, were $5.04 billion in the third quarter of 2013, or 34% of revenues, compared to $4.61 billion in the third quarter of 2012, or 35% of revenues.

Amortization Expenses – Amortization expenses of acquisition-related intangible assets were $281 million for the third quarter of 2013, compared to $287 million in the third quarter of 2012. Of the $281 million, $153 million was as a result of the acquisition of Motorola, of which $116 million is included in Google segment results and $37 million is included in Motorola Mobile segment results.

Stock-Based Compensation (SBC) – In the third quarter of 2013, the total charge related to SBC was $886 million, compared to $750 million in the third quarter of 2012. We currently estimate SBC charges for grants to employees prior to September 30, 2013 to be approximately $3.29 billion for 2013. This estimate does not include expenses to be recognized related to employee stock awards that are granted after September 30, 2013 or non-employee stock awards that have been or may be granted.

Operating Income – On a consolidated basis, GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2013 was $3.44 billion, or 23% of revenues. This compares to GAAP operating income of $2.74 billion, or 21% of revenues, in the third quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2013 was $4.34 billion, or 29% of revenues. This compares to non-GAAP operating income of $3.76 billion, or 28% of revenues, in the third quarter of 2012.

• Google Segment Operating Income – Google segment operating income in the third quarter of 2013 was $4.64 billion, or 34% of Google segment revenues. This compares to segment operating income of $3.95 billion in the third quarter of 2012, or 34% of Google segment revenues.
• Motorola Mobile Segment Operating Loss – Motorola Mobile segment operating loss in the third quarter of 2013 was $248 million, or -21% of Motorola Mobile segment revenues. This compares to segment operating loss of $192 million, or -11% of Motorola Mobile segment revenues in the third quarter of 2012.

Interest and Other Income, Net – Interest and other income, net, was $24 million in the third quarter of 2013, compared to $65 million in the third quarter of 2012.

Income Taxes – Our effective tax rate was 15% for the third quarter of 2013.

Net Income – Consolidated GAAP net income in the third quarter of 2013 was $2.97 billion, compared to $2.18 billion in the third quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP consolidated net income was $3.64 billion in the third quarter of 2013, compared to $2.96 billion in the third quarter of 2012. GAAP EPS in the third quarter of 2013 was $8.75 on 339 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $6.53 in the third quarter of 2012 on 333 million diluted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP EPS in the third quarter of 2013 was $10.74, compared to $8.87 in the third quarter of 2012.

Cash Flow and Capital Expenditures – Net cash provided by operating activities in the third quarter of 2013 totaled $5.08 billion, compared to $4.0 billion in the third quarter of 2012. In the third quarter of 2013, capital expenditures were $2.29 billion, the majority of which was for production equipment, data-center construction, and real estate purchases. Free cash flow, an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity, is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. In the third quarter of 2013, free cash flow was $2.79 billion.

We expect to continue to make significant capital expenditures.

A reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash provided by operating activities, the GAAP measure of liquidity, is included at the end of this release.

Cash – As of September 30, 2013, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $56.52 billion.

Headcount – On a worldwide basis, we employed 46,421 full-time employees (42,162 in Google and 4,259 in Motorola Mobile) as of September 30, 2013, compared to 44,777 full-time employees (40,178 in Google and 4,599 Motorola Mobile) as of June 30, 2013.

COMMENTARY:   

Motorola Disappoints

In spite of Google's stellar Q3 2013 earnings report, Motorola, continues its downward decline, as it posted another $250 million dollar loss in spite of the Moto X launch -- evidently those personalized phones haven't been selling swiftly enough to stem the tide.  Page is optimistic about Motorola, as he waxed poetic about its voice recognition features and stated that the Android ecosystem is healthy -- it now numbers 1 billion devices strong, and continues at a pace of 1.5 million more activations per day. The problem? Well, Moto's manufacturing is up to speed, but the process of building marketing and distribution are what's holding Moto back.

Motorola's Moto X smartphone (Click Image To Enlarge)

Unveiled on August 1, 2013, the new 4.7-inch screen smartphone is aimed at market leaders like the iPhone and the Galaxy S phones. The Moto X features “all-day” battery life, a choice of colors and materials, and an instant-start camera, the company said today at a press event in New York. The Moto X is priced starting at $199 with a two-year contract and will be available on all the major U.S. carriers by the end of August or early September.

Bloomberg's panel of technology experts discusses Motorola's new Moto X smartphone designed to compete against the iPhone. Google acquired Motorola in 2011 and I covered it in my blog on September 7, 2011 (Click Image To View Video)

Dennis Woodside, chief executive officer of Motorola Mobility, said at the unveiling press event.  

“This is a relaunch of Motorola.  A year ago today, the Google team sat before a whiteboard and said, ‘What do we want to build? And how do we make it different?’ And this is it.”

The Moto X is assembled by contract manufacturer Flextronics International Ltd. (FLEX) at a former Nokia Oyj facility in Fort Worth, Texas.  Staffing the facility will require about 2,000 jobs, Woodside said in May.

Working initially with AT&T Inc. (T), customers can customize the colors of the front, back and accents of the Moto X on website Motomaker.com. The customization work is done in Fort Worth, and Motorola guarantees phone delivery in four days, said Osterloh. One of the custom options available is a wooden back made from a choice of rosewood, teak, bamboo or ebony.

Woodside said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

“You can build this phone in 2,000 combinations.  By giving consumers the option to customize phones, that’s going to be fun and interesting.”

Boy, I thought Apple had gone crazy with its iPhone C color combinatins, but Motorola topped the iPhone C's color combinations by a factor of 10.

Google Still Leads In Search, But Market Share Is Flat

The company's share of the search market has remained relatively flat and its margins on desktop search advertising — Google's bread and butter — have declined as PCs are replaced by smartphones and tablets. Last quarter its cost per click, a metric of how much brands pay to advertise with Google, declined 6 percent. It fell again this quarter, down 8 percent year of year and 4 percent from last quarter. But the total volume of paid clicks (when people click on ads across Google's sites and on ad networks it serves) rose 26 percent year over year, offsetting that decline.

Google Bullish On Mobile Video

Page and Google are also bullish on mobile video, announcing that a full forty percent of YouTube's revenue now flows from phones and tablets. Just two years ago, the video service only got six percent of its cash from such devices. And, as YouTube has continued to beef up its video library -- be it livestreaming events or sponsored weeks of original content -- video continues to grow in importance to Google's overall bottom line. However, when asked about a rumored partnership to broadcast NFL games, the company remained coy. Nikesh Arora, Google's Chief Business Officer would only say that YouTube's always talking to content providers, but remains satisfied with its current business plan.

Chromebooks Big With U.S. Schools

As for the company's other main hardware, Chromebooks, well, things are looking up there too. Over 8,000 locations worldwide are now selling them, and twenty percent of US school districts have deployed Google-fied laptops. Gotta get 'em on the Google bandwagon early, right?

Google's Chromebook is a laptop that uses the Chrome operating system and all applications and user-generated files are stored in the Google cloud ecosystem (Click Image To Enlarge)

Search Ad Revenue Growth Slows

As Colin W. Gillis, a technology analyst at BGC, pointed out in Time on Friday morning, Google has seen a substantial deceleration from the 35 percent annual growth that the company delivered as recently as 2011, averaging around 20 percent in its last several quarters. Gillis says.

"We see the slowing core business as a one reason why Google is investing so heavily in new ventures as new products are needed to reignite revenue growth."

R&D 

all topics on the earnings call revolved around making money, there was some talk of spending it, too. Through the first three quarters of this year as compared to last, Google's R&D budget has increased by almost $1 billion. And, if Larry Page had his way, he'd be spending even more. Part of Page's job is to spend on long-term R&D -- projects that are "speculative" according to Page. You know, stuff like Calico, Project Loon and Google's self-driving cars. Current spending on such projects "isn't consequential for Google" according to Page, and he wants to do more of it.

Earnings Report Conference Call Transcript

For a complete transcript of Google management earnings report conference call, please click HERE.

Courtesy of a press release dated October 17, 2013 issued by Google, an article dated August 1, 2013 appearing in Bloomberg, an article dated October 17, 2013 appearing in Engadget, an article dated October 17, 2013 appearing in The Verge, an article dated October 17, 2013 appearing in Business Insider, an article dated October 17, 2013 appearing in SeekingAlpha, and an article dated October 17, 2013 appearing in VentureBeat

comSCORE: YAHOO! IS THE TOP US WEB PROPERTY IN JULY 2013; GOOGLE STILL TOPS IN VIDEO AND ONLINE SEARCH

Yahoo's network of websites had more unique monthly visitors last month than Google's for the first time since May 2011, according to recent data released by comScore.

Yahoo sites had 196.5 million unique US visitors in July, compared with 192.2 million for Google. Microsoft sites were third, with 179.5 million visitors, and Facebook was fourth, with 142.2 million.

Those numbers do not factor in mobile traffic, only Web visits. They also do not include search queries.

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Below, additional comScore data from July 2013.

Top Categories

• Back-to-school shopping was top of mind for many Americans in July, as seen by a spike in traffic to fashion and accessories sites, as well as consumer goods sites for school supplies. 
• Coupon sites also drew a significant increase in traffic.  

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Video

• Google, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube, ranked as the top online video content property in July with 167.9 million unique viewers (up 6% since June). 
• Facebook was second with 61.3 million unique viewers, followed by AOL with 57.9 million, VEVO with 49.6 million, and Microsoft with 49.6 million.  

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Search

• Google led the US search market in July with a 67% market share (up 0.3%). 
• Microsoft was second with 17.9% of searches, and and Yahoo was third with 11.3%. 

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About the research: To learn more about the July 2013 data, see comScore's reports on the month's top web properties, video properties, and search engines. 

COMMENTARY:   Although Yahoo! beat out Google in terms of unique visitors during July 2013, Google still beats both Yahoo! and Facebook in terms of revenues.  Google generated $14.1 billion in gross revenues for the second quarter ending July 31, 2013.  Yahoo!, Microsoft and Facebook generated gross revenues of $1.135 billion, $19.896 billion and $1.813 billion respectively.

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Courtesy of an article dated August 27, 2013 appearing in MarketingProfs