Google rolling in the dough!

Let me tell you on the onset that I am not going to discuss the Microsoft and Yahoo! Deal. What I will share in this post is some statistics and numbers released by Google. Numbers can be very interesting and heartening if they show growth and profit.

Contrary to the reason why its 2 main rivals (you guessed it right- Microsoft and Yahoo!) have been in news, Google has caught the media’s attention through numbers!

Undeterred by Microsoft’s hostile takeover, the search giant continues to report strong growth, with its fourth-quarter revenue up by 51% over the same period the year before.

About the numbers that I talked about. Google generated revenue of $4,83bn for the quarter ending December 31 using generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Net income for this period was $1,21bn as compared to $1,01bn in the third quarter last year. As polled by First Call, on a non-GAAP basis, with earnings per share of $4.43, Google missed analyst consensus of $4.44 by a hair’s breadth.

The revenues from outside the U.S. have played a pivotal part in this growth. It is reported that 48% of total revenue in the quarter came from international markets. That is up from 44% in the same period last year.

This is what Eric Schmidt, CEO and chairman of Google had to say “The international market is still very nascent, with tremendous potential with what we can do".

Google doesn’t seem to worry much about the recession that has hit the US of late. The potential economic slowdown in the US is not expected to decline Google’s fortunes. "We have not yet seen any negative impact from the rumors of a future recession," says Schmidt.

What I am waiting for with baited breadth is how these numbers change when the Microsoft and Yahoo! deal goes through.