Google does it again?

[DanS]

Here's an article about a possible server farm near Blythewood, South Carolina. It's neat to see how Google has been relatively low-key in order to buy the sites at reasonably good prices.

At the end of the article is a map that shows 8 server buildings of 10 acres apiece. I think you'll agree that's honkin' huge.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/16484109.htm

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by One_more_turn
If the telcos decide to erect toll bridges on the internet, I'm sure the net companies will want to create their own networks. It could be the catalyst for the next tech boom.

Cable companies shouldn't be let out of equation, too.

The democratic Congress is certainly hostile to the telcos and friendly to the net companies. AT&T didn't even bother to give money to dems during the last election.

**** the telcos. They provide ****ty service at inflated prices.

[DanS]

That should change, as cable companies compete with the telcos. In most places, that would mean a duopoly, but I guess that's at least slightly better than two monopolies.

In some areas, that means slightly more competition. In my area of DC, RCN is also available for phone/TV/internet.

[KrazyHorse]

The cable companies are slightly better, but they're not great either.

[DanS]

Well, both industries recently have been monopolies. It's no wonder that their habits are to run roughshod over their customers.

I would love to see Google and others mix it up too.

[KrazyHorse]

In Baltimore at least they're still pretty much monopolies. VoIP has started to eat into Verizon (and of course competition from people dropping land lines in favour of cell phones), while the only competition to Comcast is satellite.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by DanS
Well, both industries recently have been monopolies. It's no wonder that their habits are to run roughshod over their customers.

I would love to see Google and others mix it up too.

You were saying?

[DanS]

I think you're asserting that Google is a monopoly? If so, that's a pretty retarded assertion.

[DanS]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
In Baltimore at least they're still pretty much monopolies. VoIP has started to eat into Verizon (and of course competition from people dropping land lines in favour of cell phones), while the only competition to Comcast is satellite.

I will probably drop my phone service from RCN and do something like Gizmo Project ($35/year). Net savings of at least $200 per annum. However, I'm mindful of 911, the fact that my internet is at very rare times pretty flaky, and that I don't always have my cell phone on. Earlier this afternoon, my connection was suffering 2% packet loss.

I'm waiting for Google Talk to start accepting and originating calls to regular telephone numbers for free.

[DanS]

Google earns over $1 billion in the 4th quarter, or $3.29 per share. IIUC, that's at least 10% higher than Wall Street expected and 177% higher than for Q4 '05.

More coming...

http://investor.google.com/releases/2006Q4.html

[DanS]

Amazing. Google blows the door off expectations, but the stock falls in after-hours trading. It's probably time to start buying out-of-the-money puts again.

One item of note: Google backed off of its capital expenditures this quarter.

Google's Profit Nearly Triples
As Revenue Surges 67%
A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP
January 31, 2007 7:04 p.m.

Google Inc.'s profit nearly tripled as the Internet giant continued to gain market share in Web search and online advertising.

The Mountain View, Calif., company posted net income of $1.03 billion, or $3.29 a share. That compares with $372.2 million, or $1.54 a share, in the same quarter last year.

Revenue climbed 67% to $3.21 billion, compared with revenue in the year earlier period of $1.92 billion. After subtracting commissions paid to its advertising partners, Google's revenue in the recent fourth-quarter was $2.23 billion.

The company said Google-owned sites generated revenue of $1.98 billion, up 80% from the year earlier quarter. The company's partner sites, which use its AdSense programs, brought in $1.20 billion, up 50% from the same period last year.

Despite the robust growth, investors appeared to be expecting more. Google shares rose $7.18 to close at $501.50 on the Nasdaq Stock Market Wednesday, then dropped $18.30, or 3.7%, in after-hours trading.

Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said Google's growing revenue has been helped by smarter placement of advertising. "We are showing fewer ads per search on a much higher quality and much better monetization," he said during a conference call with analysts. "The targeting and the technical work that we are doing is producing better return for advertisers, better revenue for us, with even fewer advertisements on a comparison basis."

Google's results were aided by strong Web traffic trends, including an expanded lead in market share at the expense of Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and IAC/InteractiveCorp.'s Ask.

Google also offered a new data point for investors: It said paid clicks rose about 61% from a year ago, and were up 22% from the third quarter.

The results come as Google is moving to expand its advertising reach to other places on the Web and into traditional media. Many consumers know Google primarily for its popular search engine, but nearly all of its revenue comes from advertisements it places alongside search results and other content on its own Web sites and those of partners. Thanks to those activities, Google is the largest seller of advertising on the Internet, according to research firm eMarketer Inc.

Over the past year, Google has dramatically increased the places it distributes ads online, signing pacts with outlets such as eBay Inc. and News Corp.'s MySpace and paying nearly $1.8 billion to buy video site YouTube Inc.

Google is using the Web to sell ads that appear in more than 50 newspapers as part of a test, and recently it announced it is testing its new system for Web sales of radio ads. On top of that, the Internet company has begun offering new varieties of online ads, such as video ads, ads that initiate a phone call to an advertiser when clicked on and ads appearing on online maps and cellphones.

--Riva Richmond contributed to this article

[snoopy369]

ads that initiate a phone call to an advertiser when clicked

[One_more_turn]

If Microsoft's stock history is any guide, Google stock should be going nowhere during next 2 years. It should oscillate between 350 and 500. That, of course, assumes Google will continue to execute flawlessly.