Posted 10/18/09 at 10:12:41 AM by Justin Kerr

Google poured some much needed optimism into the markets last week by announcing some stellar third quarter earnings, giving hope that advertising markets around the world might finally be on the mend. Google turned in a Q3 profit of $1.64 billion, with a very respectable earnings per share of $5.13, a 27 percent boost from the same period last year. During the conference call Google CEO Eric Schmidt also declared that the search engine giant would be on the prowl for new acquisition targets, and would consider any company be it large or small.

News like this usually gets analysts all fired up trying to figure out where they will strike first, but Schmidt clarified that Google is primarily interested in search engines that target specific verticals, or could help them refine how search is performed. Google apparently is also on the lookout for companies that can help them improve their display ad business, or with the development of Chrome. "We have historically done an acquisition, perhaps, one a month or so, and those are typically small, they're typically a complete offering, they're typically technology-intensive," said Schmidt on the call. "They're not very expensive in the scheme of things, and they bring some specific technology."

Schmidt also confirmed that Chrome OS is on track for a beta release later this year, claiming that internal demos have proven it to be a superior offering for netbooks, and far beyond anything offered by either the Microsoft, or Linux camps in both “speed and efficiency”.

So who do you think Google should buy?

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Posted 10/16/09 at 09:06:03 PM by Ryan Whitwam

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, held the company’s third quarter conference call today and has some things to say about Android. According to Schmidt, “Android adoption is about to explode.” There are 12 official Android phones in production now, and the pace of Android handset releases is rapidly increasing. Additionally, mobile searches are up over 30 percent over last quarter.

The Android platform is aimed at getting these mobile search numbers up. By producing a free and open-source OS for manufacturers to use, they’ve almost guaranteed wide adoption. Google hasn’t mentioned how much of their overall revenue comes from mobile, but they have said they expect it to be a big source of growth in the coming years.

While Google may be acting coy, analysts have estimated that 70% of mobile advertizing will be based on search. Clearly, it is in Google’s best interest that we all get an Android powered phone in our hands so they can sell us stuff. You may have already bought the phone, but they want to sell you other stuff.

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Posted 09/18/09 at 07:49:19 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Of late, Google has found it very difficult to be in the vicinity of an agreement with people from the publishing industry. The trend persisted on Thursday, when Google CEO Eric Schmidt again spurned Rupert Murdoch’s stated plan to begin charging for all online content owned by News Corp. He believes that it is highly unlikely that internet users will be willing to pay for accessing general news items on the internet given the nimiety of free news sources on the internet.

"In general these models have not worked for general public consumption because there are enough free sources that the marginal value of paying is not justified based on the incremental value of quantity. So my guess is for niche and specialist markets ... it will be possible to do it but I think it is unlikely that you will be able to do it for all news," Schmidt said while addressing the Royal Televison Society Convention in Cambridge, England, via video link. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch had said in August that News Corp. websites may become paid by the middle of next year.

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