It happens less often than it used to, but it still happens. I'll be discussing search engine advertising with a prospect, client or someone I've met at an networking event and they'll say something along the lines of "Nobody ever clicks on those Google ads, I never do."
My typical response is a question: "Have you seen Google's revenue numbers lately?"
Thanks to numerous stories in the media over the past four years, most people know Google makes a lot of money but aren't aware of exactly how much they make or how they make it. So I like educating folks on the details and making the case for advertising via Google on search engines and other sites.
Google announced their results for the second quarter of 2009 yesterday. This Search Engine Land article breaks down the numbers for us with some handy charts.
Google had revenue of $5.52 billion last quarter. Yeah, that's right: $5.52 BILLION. IN ONE QUARTER! That's over $61 million in revenue PER DAY.
As the Search Engine Land article explains, $3.6 billion or 66% of the revenue came from people clicking those text ads on Google sites with $1.68 billion or 31% of the revenue from clicks on ads on Google network sites (content sites that show Google text ads, banner ads on mobile ads).
Obviously, it takes a lot of clicks on ads to generate this much revenue. So, the next time you hear someone say "Nobody ever clicks on those Google ads" - just smile.
Google is.
