From time to time every business experiences a bump in the road. That’s what happened to search giant Google yesterday, when premature release of third quarter earnings turned out well below projections. The stock exchange reacted badly, but as we’ll see, Google is experiencing growth in a whole new arena: mobile. Whatever the hiccup today, Google remains critical to any business that depends upon online traffic or uses its tools. Let’s see where things stand with the company now.
Nervous Nellies
Slip and slide. The early release of Google’s third quarter earnings Thursday was a slip up that caused the company’s stock to slide down about 9 percent. Analysts had expected earnings of $14.7 billion but the report showed $14.10 billion instead, well below projections. Google blamed financial printer RR Donnelley for accidentally posting the earnings report prematurely, and promptly suspended trading. Tech Crunch
Still moving on mobile. In an apparent effort to blunt the disappointment over the company’s overall failure to meet earnings projections, Google CEO Larry Page pointed out in a sales call later in the day, that not all the news is bad. Specifically, Google reports robust growth in its mobile revenue, largely from advertising. Earnings have increased from just $2.5 billion last year to over $8 billion today, an impressive rise. The Next Web
Tools You Can Use
Author, author! A Google feature called Author Rank allows you to take credit for your content, no matter where on the Web it might appear. If you create great online content, Author Rank can help you become an authority in your niche by having your name and avatar pop up next to your content in search, says social media marketing consultant and strategist Niall Devitt. Here’s how it works. Tweak Your Biz
What’s in your wallet? Google Wallet offers a whole new way to to pay. Customers can store credit and debit card information into a contactless card application on their mobile devices and use it to make payments at any point of sale. But what happens if a customer’s Wallet ID is hacked or stolen? Does Google have sufficient security in place to prevent a culprit from using it to access cards a customer has added? Buyer Zone
Selling your site. Google could be researching a service that would require users to pay for reading specific content online. We were surprised to see this post by full-time blogger Amanda DiSilvestro, though according to her, Google has yet to confirm the project, putting it on the level of a rumor. The question is whether the new service might be another way for authors to monetize at least some of their content. It is also uncertain whether customers would pay for it. Get Busy Business
The Secrets of Search
Pandas and Penguins. While some tweaking of algorithms at search engines like Google affects few sites, others, like Google’s Panda and Penguin updates, are huge, game changing events and can damage an online business severely. There are a number of tips online business owners and entrepreneurs need to keep in mind if they find they have been affected. Brick Marketing Blog
Disavowing all knowledge. We all know that linking to spam or low quality sites can be a bad idea for any online business. This is partly because visitors will judge your site by the resources to which you link, and also because connecting to such locations can drag your site down in the eyes of the search engines. Unfortunately, now a similar thing can happen when spammers link to you. Here’s what to do about it. Cube Online Marketing
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