GOOG » Topics » How We Generate Revenue

This excerpt taken from the GOOG 10-Q filed May 6, 2009.

How We Generate Revenue

Advertising revenues made up 98% of our revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2008 and 97% for the three months ended March 31, 2009. We derive most of our additional revenues from offering internet ad serving and management services to advertisers and ad agencies, the license of our enterprise products, search solutions and web search technology.

Google AdWords is our automated online program that enables advertisers to place targeted text-based and display ads on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites. Most of our AdWords customers pay us on a cost-per-click basis, which means that an advertiser pays us only when a user clicks on one of its ads. We also offer AdWords on a cost-per-impression basis that enables advertisers to pay us based on the number of times their ads appear on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites as specified by the advertiser. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-click pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time a user clicks on one of the ads that appears next to the search results on our web sites or next to the search results or content on our Google Network members’ web sites. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-impression pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time their ads are displayed on the Google Network members’ web sites. Our AdWords agreements are generally terminable at any time by our advertisers.

Google AdSense refers to the online programs through which we distribute our advertisers’ AdWords ads for display on the web sites of our Google Network members as well as programs to deliver ads on television. Our AdSense programs include AdSense for search and AdSense for content.

AdSense for search is our online service for distributing relevant ads from our advertisers for display with search results on our Google Network members’ sites. To use AdSense for search, most of our AdSense for search partners add Google search functionality to their web pages in the form of customizable Google search boxes. When visitors of these web sites search either the web site or the internet using these customizable search boxes, we display relevant ads on the search results pages, targeted to match user search queries. Ads shown through AdSense for search are text ads.

AdSense for content is our online service for distributing ads from our advertisers that are relevant to content on our Google Network members’ web sites. Under this program, we use automated technology to analyze the meaning of the content on the web page and serve relevant ads based on the meaning of such content. For example, a web page on an automotive blog that contains an entry about vintage cars might display ads for vintage car parts or vintage car shows. These ads are displayed in spaces that our AdSense for content partners have set aside on their web sites. AdSense for content allows a variety of ad types to be shown, including text ads, image ads, Google Video Ads, link units (which are sets of clickable links to topic pages related to page content), themed units (which are regular text ads with graphic treatments that change seasonally and by geography) and gadget ads (which are customized “mini-sites” that run as ads on AdSense publisher web sites).

 

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For our online AdSense program, our advertisers pay us a fee each time a user clicks on one of our advertisers’ ads displayed on our Google Network members’ web sites or, for those advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as their ads are displayed. To date, we have paid most of these advertiser fees to our Google Network members, and we expect to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue and the portion of the advertiser fee we pay to our Google Network members as traffic acquisition costs under cost of revenues. In some cases, we guarantee our Google Network members minimum revenue share payments based on their achieving defined performance terms, such as number of search queries or advertisements displayed. Google Network members do not pay any fees associated with the use of our AdSense program on their web sites.

Our agreements with Google Network members consist largely of uniform online “click-wrap” agreements that members enter into by interacting with our registration web sites. The standard agreements have no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to share with the Google Network member most of the advertiser fees generated by users clicking on ads on the Google Network member’s web site or, for advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as the ads are displayed on the Google Network member’s web site.

Google TV Ads enables advertisers, operators and programmers to buy, schedule, deliver and measure ads on television. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is displayed on television.

DoubleClick provides us with a platform for delivering display advertising. DoubleClick offers online ad serving and management services to advertisers, ad agencies and web site publishers. Fees derived from hosted or web-based applications are recognized as licensing and other revenues in the period the advertising impressions are delivered.

We have entered into arrangements with certain content providers under which we distribute or license their video and other content. Our agreements with content providers are typically standard agreements with no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to pay the content providers for the content we license. In a number of these arrangements, we display ads on the pages of our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites from which the content is viewed and share most of the fees these ads generate with the content providers and Google Network members. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue. We recognize the portion of the advertiser fees we pay to our content providers as content acquisition costs under cost of revenues and the portion we pay to our Google Network members as traffic acquisition costs. In some cases, we guarantee our content providers minimum revenue share or other payments.

We believe the factors that influence the success of our advertising programs include the following:

 

   

The relevance, objectivity and quality of our search results and the relevance and quality of ads displayed with each search results page.

 

   

The number of searches initiated at our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites and the underlying purpose of these searches (for instance, whether they are for academic research, to find a news article, or to find a product or service).

 

   

The number and prominence of ads displayed on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites.

 

   

The number of visits to, and the content of, our Google Network members’ web sites and certain of our web sites and the relevance and quality of the ads we display next to this content.

 

   

The advertisers’ return on investment from advertising campaigns on our web sites or our Google Network members’ web sites compared to other forms of advertising.

 

   

The total advertising spending budgets of each advertiser.

 

   

The number of advertisers and the breadth of items advertised.

 

   

The amount we ultimately pay our Google Network members, distribution partners and our content providers for traffic, access points and content compared to the amount of revenue we generate.

 

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These excerpts taken from the GOOG 10-K filed Feb 13, 2009.

How We Generate Revenue

Advertising revenues made up 99% of our revenues in 2006 and 2007 and 97% of our revenues in 2008. We derive most of our additional revenues from offering internet ad serving and management services to advertisers and ad agencies, the license of our web search technology and the license of our search solutions to enterprises.

Google AdWords is our automated online program that enables advertisers to place targeted text-based and display ads on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites. Most of our AdWords customers pay us on a cost-per-click basis, which means that an advertiser pays us only when a user clicks on one of its ads. We also offer AdWords on a cost-per-impression basis that enables advertisers to pay us based on the number of times their ads appear on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites as specified by the advertiser. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-click pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time a user clicks on one of the ads that appears next to the search results on our web sites or next to the search results or content on our Google Network members’ web sites. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-impression pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time their ads are displayed on the Google Network members’ web sites. Our AdWords agreements are generally terminable at any time by our advertisers.

Google AdSense refers to the online programs through which we distribute our advertisers’ AdWords ads for display on the web sites of our Google Network members as well as programs to deliver ads on television and radio broadcasts. Our AdSense programs include AdSense for search and AdSense for content.

AdSense for search is our online service for distributing relevant ads from our advertisers for display with search results on our Google Network members’ sites. To use AdSense for search, most of our AdSense for search partners add Google search functionality to their web pages in the form of customizable Google search boxes. When visitors of these web sites search either the web site or the internet using these customizable search boxes, we display relevant ads on the search results pages, targeted to match user search queries. Ads shown through AdSense for search are text ads.

AdSense for content is our online service for distributing ads from our advertisers that are relevant to content on our Google Network members’ web sites. Under this program, we use automated technology to analyze the meaning of the

 

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content on the web page and serve relevant ads based on the meaning of such content. For example, a web page on an automotive blog that contains an entry about vintage cars might display ads for vintage car parts or vintage car shows. These ads are displayed in spaces that our AdSense for content partners have set aside on their web sites. AdSense for content allows a variety of ad types to be shown, including text ads, image ads, Google Video Ads, link units (which are sets of clickable links to topic pages related to page content), themed units (which are regular text ads with graphic treatments that change seasonally and by geography) and gadget ads (which are customized “mini-sites” that run as ads on AdSense publisher web sites).

For our online AdSense program, our advertisers pay us a fee each time a user clicks on one of our advertisers’ ads displayed on our Google Network members’ web sites or, for those advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as their ads are displayed. To date, we have paid most of these advertiser fees to our Google Network members, and we expect to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue and the portion of the advertiser fee we pay to our Google Network members as traffic acquisition costs under cost of revenues. In some cases, we guarantee our Google Network members minimum revenue share payments based on their achieving defined performance terms, such as number of search queries or advertisements displayed. Google Network members do not pay any fees associated with the use of our AdSense program on their web sites.

Our agreements with Google Network members consist largely of uniform online “click-wrap” agreements that members enter into by interacting with our registration web sites. The standard agreements have no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to share with the Google Network member most of the advertiser fees generated by users clicking on ads on the Google Network member’s web site or, for advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as the ads are displayed on the Google Network member’s web site.

Google TV Ads enables advertisers, operators and programmers to buy, schedule, deliver and measure ads on television. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is displayed on television. Google Audio Ads enables the distribution of our advertisers’ ads for broadcast on radio programs. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is broadcasted or a listener responds to that ad.

We have entered into arrangements with certain content providers under which we distribute or license their video and other content. Our agreements with content providers are typically standard agreements with no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to pay the content providers for the content we license. In a number of these arrangements, we display ads on the pages of our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites from which the content is viewed and share most of the fees these ads generate with the content providers and Google Network members. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue. We recognize the portion of the advertiser fees we pay to our content providers as content acquisition costs under cost of revenues and the portion we pay to our Google Network members as traffic acquisition costs. In some cases, we guarantee our content providers minimum revenue share or other payments.

In the first quarter of 2008, we acquired DoubleClick, a company that offers online ad serving and management services to advertisers, ad agencies and web site publishers. Fees derived from hosted, or web-based applications, such as the fees we receive for DoubleClick, are recognized as licensing and other revenues in the period the advertising impressions are delivered.

We believe the factors that influence the success of our advertising programs include the following:

 

   

The relevance, objectivity and quality of our search results and the relevance and quality of ads displayed with each search results page.

 

   

The number of searches initiated at our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites and the underlying purpose of these searches (for instance, whether they are for academic research, to find a news article, or to find a product or service).

 

   

The number and prominence of ads displayed on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites.

 

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The number of visits to, and the content of, our Google Network members’ web sites and certain of our web sites and the relevance and quality of the ads we display next to this content.

 

   

The advertisers’ return on investment from advertising campaigns on our web sites or our Google Network members’ web sites compared to other forms of advertising.

 

   

The total advertising spending budgets of each advertiser.

 

   

The number of advertisers and the breadth of items advertised.

 

   

The amount we ultimately pay our Google Network members, distribution partners and our content providers for traffic, access points and content compared to the amount of revenue we generate.

 

   

Our minimum fee per click.

How We Generate Revenue

STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%">Advertising revenues made up 99% of our revenues in 2006 and 2007 and 97% of our revenues in 2008. We derive most of our additional revenues from offering
internet ad serving and management services to advertisers and ad agencies, the license of our web search technology and the license of our search solutions to enterprises.

STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%">Google AdWords is our automated online program that enables advertisers to place targeted text-based and display ads on our web sites and our Google
Network members’ web sites. Most of our AdWords customers pay us on a cost-per-click basis, which means that an advertiser pays us only when a user clicks on one of its ads. We also offer AdWords on a cost-per-impression basis that enables
advertisers to pay us based on the number of times their ads appear on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites as specified by the advertiser. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-click pricing, we recognize as revenue the
fees charged advertisers each time a user clicks on one of the ads that appears next to the search results on our web sites or next to the search results or content on our Google Network members’ web sites. For advertisers using our AdWords
cost-per-impression pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time their ads are displayed on the Google Network members’ web sites. Our AdWords agreements are generally terminable at any time by our advertisers.

Google AdSense refers to the online programs through which we distribute our advertisers’ AdWords ads for display on the web sites of
our Google Network members as well as programs to deliver ads on television and radio broadcasts. Our AdSense programs include AdSense for search and AdSense for content.

FACE="Times New Roman" SIZE="2">AdSense for search is our online service for distributing relevant ads from our advertisers for display with search results on our Google Network members’ sites. To use AdSense for search, most of our AdSense for
search partners add Google search functionality to their web pages in the form of customizable Google search boxes. When visitors of these web sites search either the web site or the internet using these customizable search boxes, we display
relevant ads on the search results pages, targeted to match user search queries. Ads shown through AdSense for search are text ads.

SIZE="2">AdSense for content is our online service for distributing ads from our advertisers that are relevant to content on our Google Network members’ web sites. Under this program, we use automated technology to analyze the meaning of the

 


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content on the web page and serve relevant ads based on the meaning of such content. For example, a web page on an automotive blog that contains an entry
about vintage cars might display ads for vintage car parts or vintage car shows. These ads are displayed in spaces that our AdSense for content partners have set aside on their web sites. AdSense for content allows a variety of ad types to be shown,
including text ads, image ads, Google Video Ads, link units (which are sets of clickable links to topic pages related to page content), themed units (which are regular text ads with graphic treatments that change seasonally and by geography) and
gadget ads (which are customized “mini-sites” that run as ads on AdSense publisher web sites).

For our online AdSense program,
our advertisers pay us a fee each time a user clicks on one of our advertisers’ ads displayed on our Google Network members’ web sites or, for those advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as their ads are displayed. To
date, we have paid most of these advertiser fees to our Google Network members, and we expect to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue and the portion of the advertiser fee we pay to our Google
Network members as traffic acquisition costs under cost of revenues. In some cases, we guarantee our Google Network members minimum revenue share payments based on their achieving defined performance terms, such as number of search queries or
advertisements displayed. Google Network members do not pay any fees associated with the use of our AdSense program on their web sites.

SIZE="2">Our agreements with Google Network members consist largely of uniform online “click-wrap” agreements that members enter into by interacting with our registration web sites. The standard agreements have no stated term and are
terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to share with the Google Network member most of the advertiser fees
generated by users clicking on ads on the Google Network member’s web site or, for advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as the ads are displayed on the Google Network member’s web site.

STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%">Google TV Ads enables advertisers, operators and programmers to buy, schedule, deliver and measure ads on television. We recognize as revenue the fees
charged advertisers each time an ad is displayed on television. Google Audio Ads enables the distribution of our advertisers’ ads for broadcast on radio programs. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is
broadcasted or a listener responds to that ad.

We have entered into arrangements with certain content providers under which we distribute
or license their video and other content. Our agreements with content providers are typically standard agreements with no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard
agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to pay the content providers for the content we license. In a number of these arrangements, we display ads on the pages of our web sites and our Google Network members’
web sites from which the content is viewed and share most of the fees these ads generate with the content providers and Google Network members. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue. We recognize the portion of the advertiser fees we pay to
our content providers as content acquisition costs under cost of revenues and the portion we pay to our Google Network members as traffic acquisition costs. In some cases, we guarantee our content providers minimum revenue share or other payments.

In the first quarter of 2008, we acquired DoubleClick, a company that offers online ad serving and management services to advertisers, ad
agencies and web site publishers. Fees derived from hosted, or web-based applications, such as the fees we receive for DoubleClick, are recognized as licensing and other revenues in the period the advertising impressions are delivered.


We believe the factors that influence the success of our advertising programs include the following:

STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"> 







  

The relevance, objectivity and quality of our search results and the relevance and quality of ads displayed with each search results page.

 







  

The number of searches initiated at our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites and the underlying purpose of these searches (for instance, whether
they are for academic research, to find a news article, or to find a product or service).

 







  

The number and prominence of ads displayed on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites.

STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"> 


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The number of visits to, and the content of, our Google Network members’ web sites and certain of our web sites and the relevance and quality of the ads we
display next to this content.

 







  

The advertisers’ return on investment from advertising campaigns on our web sites or our Google Network members’ web sites compared to other forms of
advertising.

 







  

The total advertising spending budgets of each advertiser.

 







  

The number of advertisers and the breadth of items advertised.

 







  

The amount we ultimately pay our Google Network members, distribution partners and our content providers for traffic, access points and content compared to the
amount of revenue we generate.

 







  

Our minimum fee per click.

This excerpt taken from the GOOG 10-Q filed Nov 7, 2008.

How We Generate Revenue

Advertising revenues made up 97% of our revenues for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2008 and 99% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2007. We derive most of our additional revenues from offering internet ad serving and management services to advertisers and ad agencies, the license of our web search technology and the license of our search solutions to enterprises.

Google AdWords is our automated online program that enables advertisers to place targeted text-based and display ads on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites. Most of our AdWords customers pay us on a cost-per-click basis, which means that an advertiser pays us only when a user clicks on one of its ads. We also offer AdWords on a cost-per-impression basis that enables advertisers to pay us based on the number of times their ads appear on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites as specified by the advertiser. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-click pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time a user clicks on one of the ads that appears next to the search results on our web sites or next to the search results or content on our Google Network members’ web sites. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-impression pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time their ads are displayed on the Google Network members’ web sites. Our AdWords agreements are generally terminable at any time by our advertisers.

Google AdSense refers to the online programs through which we distribute our advertisers’ AdWords ads for display on the web sites of our Google Network members as well as programs to deliver audio ads on radio broadcasts, print ads for display in newspapers and magazines, and ads on television broadcasts. Our AdSense programs include AdSense for search and AdSense for content.

AdSense for search is our online service for distributing relevant ads from our advertisers for display with search results on our Google Network members’ sites. To use AdSense for search, most of our AdSense for search partners add Google search functionality to their web pages in the form of customizable Google search boxes. When visitors of these web sites search either the web site or the internet using these customizable search boxes, we display relevant ads on the search results pages, targeted to match user search queries. Ads shown through AdSense for search are text ads.

AdSense for content is our online service for distributing ads from our advertisers that are relevant to content on our Google Network members’ web sites. Under this program, we use automated technology to analyze the meaning of the content on the web page and serve relevant ads based on the meaning of such content. For example, a web page on an automotive blog that contains an entry about vintage cars might display ads for vintage car parts or vintage car shows. These ads are displayed in spaces that our AdSense for content partners have set aside on their web sites. AdSense for content allows a variety of ad types to be shown, including text ads, image ads, Google Video Ads, link units (which are sets of clickable links to topic pages related to page content), themed units (which are regular text ads with graphic treatments that change seasonally and by geography) and gadget ads (which are customized “mini-sites” that run as ads on AdSense publisher web sites).

For our online AdSense program, our advertisers pay us a fee each time a user clicks on one of our advertisers’ ads displayed on our Google Network members’ web sites or, for those advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as their ads are displayed. To date, we have paid most of these advertiser fees to our Google Network members, and we expect to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue and the portion of the advertiser fee we pay to our Google Network members as traffic acquisition costs under cost of revenues. In some cases, we guarantee our Google Network members minimum revenue share payments based on their achieving defined performance terms, such as number of search queries or advertisements displayed. Google Network members do not pay any fees associated with the use of our AdSense program on their web sites.

 

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Our agreements with Google Network members consist largely of uniform online “click-wrap” agreements that members enter into by interacting with our registration web sites. The standard agreements have no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to share with the Google Network member most of the advertiser fees generated by users clicking on ads on the Google Network member’s web site or, for advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as the ads are displayed on the Google Network member’s web site.

We have entered into arrangements with certain content providers under which we distribute or license their video and other content. Our agreements with content providers are typically standard agreements with no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to pay the content providers for the content we license. In a number of these arrangements we display ads on the pages of our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites from which the content is viewed and share most of the fees these ads generate with the content providers and Google Network members. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue. We recognize the portion of the advertiser fees we pay to our content providers as content acquisition costs under cost of revenues and the portion we pay to our Google Network members as traffic acquisition costs. In some cases, we guarantee our content providers minimum revenue share or other payments.

We also distribute our advertisers’ ads for publication in print media through our Google Print Ads program, and we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers when their ads are published in print media. Additionally, we distribute advertisers’ audio ads for broadcast in radio programs through our Google Audio Ads program, and we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is broadcasted or a listener responds to that ad.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, we acquired YouTube, a consumer media company for people to watch and share videos worldwide through the web. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad or a promoted video is displayed on the YouTube site.

In the second quarter of 2007, we began delivering Google TV ads to viewers and helping advertisers, operators and programmers buy, schedule, deliver and measure ads on television. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is displayed on TV in accordance with the terms of the related agreements.

In the third quarter of 2007, we acquired Postini, a provider of electronic communications security, compliance, and productivity software. We recognize as licensing and other revenue the fees we charge customers for hosting enterprise applications and services ratably over the term of the service arrangement.

In the first quarter of 2008, we acquired DoubleClick, a company that offers online ad serving and management services to advertisers, ad agencies and web site publishers. Fees derived from hosted, or web-based applications are recognized as licensing and other revenues in the period the advertising impressions are delivered.

We believe the factors that influence the success of our advertising programs include the following:

 

   

The relevance, objectivity and quality of our search results and the relevance and quality of ads displayed with each search results page.

 

   

The number of searches initiated at our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites and the underlying purpose of these searches (for instance, whether they are for academic research, to find a news article, or to find a product or service).

 

   

The number and prominence of ads displayed on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites.

 

   

The number of visits to, and the content of, our Google Network members’ web sites and certain of our web sites and the relevance and quality of the ads we display next to this content.

 

   

The advertisers’ return on investment from advertising campaigns on our web sites or our Google Network members’ web sites compared to other forms of advertising.

 

   

The total advertising spending budgets of each advertiser.

 

   

The number of advertisers and the breadth of items advertised.

 

   

The amount we ultimately pay our Google Network members and our content providers for traffic and content compared to the amount of revenue we generate.

 

   

Our minimum fee per click.

 

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This excerpt taken from the GOOG 10-Q filed Aug 7, 2008.

How We Generate Revenue

Advertising revenues made up 97% of our revenues for the three and six months ended June 30, 2008 and 99% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2007. We derive most of our additional revenues from offering internet ad serving and management services to advertisers and ad agencies, the license of our web search technology and the license of our search solutions to enterprises.

Google AdWords is our automated online program that enables advertisers to place targeted text-based and display ads on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites. Most of our AdWords customers pay us on a cost-per-click basis, which means that an advertiser pays us only when a user clicks on one of its ads. We also offer AdWords on a cost-per-impression basis that enables advertisers to pay us based on the number of times their ads appear on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites as specified by the advertiser. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-click pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time a user clicks on one of the ads that appears next to the search results on our web sites or next to the search results or content on our Google Network members’ web sites. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-impression pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time their ads are displayed on the Google Network members’ web sites. Our AdWords agreements are generally terminable at any time by our advertisers.

Google AdSense refers to the online programs through which we distribute our advertisers’ AdWords ads for display on the web sites of our Google Network members as well as programs to deliver audio ads on radio broadcasts, print ads for display in newspapers and magazines, and ads on television broadcasts. Our AdSense programs include AdSense for search and AdSense for content.

AdSense for search is our online service for distributing relevant ads from our advertisers for display with search results on our Google Network members’ sites. To use AdSense for search, most of our AdSense for search partners add Google search functionality to their web pages in the form of customizable Google search boxes. When visitors of these web sites search either the web site or the internet using these customizable search boxes, we display relevant ads on the search results pages, targeted to match user search queries. Ads shown through AdSense for search are text ads.

AdSense for content is our online service for distributing ads from our advertisers that are relevant to content on our Google Network members’ web sites. Under this program, we use automated technology to analyze the meaning of the content on the web site and serve relevant ads based on the meaning of such content. For example, a web page on an automotive blog that contains an entry about vintage cars might display ads for vintage car parts or vintage car shows. These ads are displayed in spaces that our AdSense for content partners have set aside on their web sites. AdSense for content allows a variety of ad types to be shown, including text ads, image ads, Google Video Ads, link units (which are sets of clickable links to topic pages related to page content), themed units (which are regular text ads with graphic treatments that change seasonally and by geography) and gadget ads (which are customized “mini-sites” that run as ads on AdSense publisher web sites).

For our online AdSense program, our advertisers pay us a fee each time a user clicks on one of our advertisers’ ads displayed on our Google Network members’ web sites or, for those advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as their ads are displayed. To date, we have paid most of these advertiser fees to the members of the Google Network, and we expect to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue and the portion of the advertiser fee we pay to our Google Network members as traffic acquisition costs under cost of revenues. In some cases, we guarantee our Google Network members minimum revenue share payments based on their achieving defined performance terms, such as number of search queries or advertisements displayed. Members of the Google Network do not pay any fees associated with the use of our AdSense program on their web sites.

 

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Our agreements with Google Network members consist largely of uniform online “click-wrap” agreements that members enter into by interacting with our registration web sites. The standard agreements have no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to share with the Google Network member most of the advertiser fees generated by users clicking on ads on the Google Network member’s web site or, for advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as the ads are displayed on the Google Network member’s web site.

We have entered into arrangements with certain content providers under which we distribute or license their video and other content. Our agreements with content providers are typically standard agreements with no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to pay the content providers for the content we license. In a number of these arrangements we display ads on the pages of our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites from which the content is viewed and share most of the fees these ads generate with the content providers and Google Network members. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue and the portion of the advertiser fees we pay to our content providers as content acquisition costs under cost of revenues. In some cases, we guarantee our content providers minimum revenue share or other payments.

We also distribute our advertisers’ ads for publication in print media through our Google Print Ads program, and we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers when their ads are published in print media. Additionally, we distribute advertisers’ audio ads for broadcast in radio programs through our Google Audio Ads program, and we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is broadcasted or a listener responds to that ad.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, we acquired YouTube, a consumer media company for people to watch and share videos worldwide through the web. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad or a promoted video is displayed on the YouTube site.

In the second quarter of 2007, we began delivering Google TV ads to viewers and helping advertisers, operators and programmers buy, schedule, deliver and measure ads on television. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is displayed on TV in accordance with the terms of the related agreements.

In the third quarter of 2007, we acquired Postini, a provider of electronic communications security, compliance, and productivity software. We recognize as licensing and other revenue the fees we charge customers for hosting enterprise applications and services ratably over the term of the service arrangement.

In the first quarter of 2008, we acquired DoubleClick, a company that offers online ad serving and management services to advertisers, ad agencies and web site publishers. Fees derived from hosted, or web-based applications are recognized as licensing and other revenues in the period the advertising impressions are delivered.

We believe the factors that influence the success of our advertising programs include the following:

 

   

The relevance, objectivity and quality of our search results and the relevance and quality of ads displayed with each search results page.

 

   

The number of searches initiated at our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites and the underlying purpose of these searches (for instance, whether they are for academic research, to find a news article, or to find a product or service).

 

   

The number and prominence of ads displayed on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites.

 

   

The number of visits to, and the content of, our Google Network members’ web sites and certain of our web sites and the relevance and quality of the ads we display next to this content.

 

   

The advertisers’ return on investment from advertising campaigns on our web sites or our Google Network members’ web sites compared to other forms of advertising.

 

   

The total advertising spending budgets of each advertiser.

 

   

The number of advertisers and the breadth of items advertised.

 

   

The amount we ultimately pay our Google Network members and our content providers for traffic and content compared to the amount of revenue we generate.

 

   

Our minimum fee per click.

 

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This excerpt taken from the GOOG 10-Q filed May 12, 2008.

How We Generate Revenue

Advertising revenues made up 98% of our revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2008 and 99% for the three months ended March 31, 2007. We derive the balance of our revenues from the license of our web search technology, the license of our search solutions to enterprises and the sale and license of other products and services.

Google AdWords is our automated online program that enables advertisers to place targeted text-based and display ads on our web sites and the web sites of our Google Network members. Most of our AdWords customers pay us on a cost-per-click basis, which means that an advertiser pays us only when a user clicks on one of its ads. We also offer AdWords on a cost-per-impression basis that enables advertisers to pay us based on the number of times their ads appear on Google Network members’ sites specified by the advertiser. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-click pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time a user clicks on one of the ads that appears next to the search results on our web sites or next to the search results or content on Google Network members’ sites. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-impression pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time their ads are displayed on the Google Network members’ sites. Our AdWords agreements are generally terminable at any time by our advertisers.

Google AdSense refers to the online and offline programs through which we distribute our advertisers’ AdWords ads for display on the web sites of our Google Network members as well as programs to deliver audio ads on radio broadcasts, print ads for display in newspapers and magazines, and ads on television broadcasts. Our AdSense programs include AdSense for search and AdSense for content.

AdSense for search is our online service for distributing relevant ads from our advertisers for display with search results on our Google Network members’ sites. To use AdSense for search, most of our AdSense for search partners add Google search functionality to their web pages in the form of customizable Google search boxes. When visitors of these web sites search either the web site or the internet using these customizable search boxes, we display relevant ads on the search results pages, targeted to match user search queries. Ads shown through AdSense for search are generally text ads.

AdSense for content is our online service for distributing ads from our advertisers that are relevant to content on our Google Network members’ sites. Under this program, we use automated technology to analyze the meaning of the content on the web site and serve relevant ads based on the meaning of such content. For example, a web page on an automotive blog that contains an entry about vintage cars might display ads for vintage car parts or vintage car shows. These ads are displayed in spaces that our AdSense for content partners have set aside on their web sites for our AdWords content. AdSense for content allows a variety of ad types to be shown, including text ads, image ads, Google Video Ads, link units (which are sets of clickable links to topic pages related to page content), themed units (which are regular text ads with graphic treatments that change seasonally and by geography) and gadget ads (which are customized “mini-sites” that run as ads on AdSense publisher web sites).

For our online AdSense program, our advertisers pay us a fee each time a user clicks on one of our advertisers’ ads displayed on Google Network members’ web sites or, for those advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as their ads are displayed. To date, we have paid most of these advertiser fees to the members of the Google Network, and we expect to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue and the portion of the advertiser fee we pay to our Google Network members as traffic acquisition costs under cost of revenues. In some cases, we guarantee our Google Network members minimum revenue share payments based on their achieving defined performance terms, such as number of search queries or advertisements displayed. Members of the Google Network do not pay any fees associated with the use of our AdSense program on their web sites.

Our agreements with Google Network members consist largely of uniform online “click-wrap” agreements that members enter into by interacting with our registration web sites. The standard agreements have no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to share with the Google Network member most of the advertiser fees generated by users clicking on ads on the Google Network member’s web site or, for advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as the ads are displayed on the Google Network member’s web site.

 

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We have entered into arrangements with certain content providers under which we distribute or license their video and other content. In a number of these arrangements we display ads on the pages of our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites from which the content is viewed and share most of the fees these ads generate with the content providers and Google Network members. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue and the portion of the advertiser fee we pay to our content providers as content acquisition costs under cost of revenues. In some cases, we guarantee our content providers minimum revenue share or other payments.

Our agreements with content providers are typically standard agreements with no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to pay the content providers for the content we license or share, and the content providers receive most of the advertiser fees generated by ads displayed on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites.

We also distribute our advertisers’ ads for publication in print media through our Google Print Ads program, and we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers when their ads are published in print media. Additionally, we distribute advertisers’ audio ads for broadcast in radio programs through our Google Audio Ads program, and we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is broadcasted or a listener responds to that ad.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, we acquired YouTube, a consumer media company for people to watch and share videos worldwide through the web. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad or a promoted video is displayed on the YouTube site.

In the second quarter of 2007, we began delivering Google TV ads to viewers and helping advertisers, operators and programmers buy, schedule, deliver and measure ads on television. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is displayed on TV in accordance with the terms of the related agreements.

We believe the factors that influence the success of our advertising programs include the following:

 

   

The relevance, objectivity and quality of our search results.

 

   

The number and type of searches initiated at our web sites.

 

   

The number and type of searches initiated at, as well as the number of visits to and the content of, our Google Network members’ web sites.

 

   

The advertisers’ return on investment (ad cost per sale or cost per conversion) from advertising campaigns on our web sites or our Google Network members’ web sites or other media compared to other forms of advertising.

 

   

The number of advertisers and the breadth of items advertised.

 

   

The total and per click or per impression advertising spending budgets of each advertiser.

 

   

The amount we ultimately pay our Google Network members and our content providers for traffic and content compared to the amount of revenue we generate.

 

   

The monetization of (or generation of revenue from) traffic on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites.

We believe that the monetization of traffic on our web sites, and our Google Network members’ web sites is affected by the following factors:

 

   

The relevance and quality of ads displayed with each search results page on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites, as well as with each content page on our Google Network members’ web sites, including the relevance and quality of an ad’s “landing page” or page a user views after an ad is clicked.

 

   

The number and prominence of ads displayed, if any, with each search results page on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites, as well as with each content page on our Google Network members’ web sites.

 

   

The rate at which our users and users of our Google Network members’ web sites click on advertisements.

 

   

Our minimum fee per click.

This excerpt taken from the GOOG 10-K filed Feb 15, 2008.

How We Generate Revenue

Advertising revenues made up 99% of our revenues in 2005, 2006 and 2007. We derive the balance of our revenues from the license of our web search technology, the license of our search solutions to enterprises and the sale and license of other products and services.

Google AdWords is our automated online program that enables advertisers to place targeted text-based and display ads on our web sites and the web sites of our Google Network members. Most of our AdWords customers pay us on a cost-per-click basis, which means that an advertiser pays us only when a user clicks on one of its ads. We also offer AdWords on a cost-per-impression basis that enables advertisers to pay us based on the number of times their ads appear on Google Network members’ sites specified by the advertiser. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-click pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time a user clicks on one of the ads that appears next to the search results on our web sites or next to the search results or content on

 

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Google Network members’ sites. For advertisers using our AdWords cost-per-impression pricing, we recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time their ads are displayed on the Google Network members’ sites. Our AdWords agreements are generally terminable at any time by our advertisers.

Google AdSense is the program through which we distribute our advertisers’ AdWords ads for display on the web sites of our Google Network members. Our AdSense program includes AdSense for search and AdSense for content.

AdSense for search is our service for distributing relevant ads from our advertisers for display with search results on our Google Network members’ sites. To use AdSense for search, most of our AdSense for search partners add Google search functionality to their web pages in the form of customizable Google search boxes. When visitors of these web sites search either the web site or the internet using these customizable search boxes, we display relevant ads on the search results pages, targeted to match user search queries. Ads shown through AdSense for search are generally text ads.

AdSense for content is our service for distributing ads from our advertisers that are relevant to content on our Google Network members’ sites. Under this program, we use automated technology to analyze the meaning of the content on the web site and serve relevant ads based on the meaning of such content. For example, a web page on an automotive blog that contains an entry about vintage cars might display ads for vintage car parts or vintage car shows. These ads are displayed in spaces that our AdSense for content partners have set aside on their web sites for our AdWords content. AdSense for content allows a variety of ad types to be shown, including text ads, image ads, Google Video Ads, link units (which are sets of clickable links to topic pages related to page content), themed units (which are regular text ads with graphic treatments that change seasonally and by geography) and gadget ads (which are customized “mini-sites” that run as ads on AdSense publisher web sites).

For our AdSense program, our advertisers pay us a fee each time a user clicks on one of our advertisers’ ads displayed on Google Network members’ web sites or, for those advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as their ads are displayed. To date, we have paid most of these advertiser fees to the members of the Google Network, and we expect to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue and the portion of the advertiser fee we pay to our Google Network members as traffic acquisition costs under cost of revenues. In some cases, we guarantee our Google Network members minimum revenue share payments. Members of the Google Network do not pay any fees associated with the use of our AdSense program on their web sites.

Our agreements with Google Network members consist largely of uniform online “click-wrap” agreements that members enter into by interacting with our registration web sites. The standard agreements have no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to share with the Google Network member most of the advertiser fees generated by users clicking on ads on the Google Network member’s web site or, for advertisers who choose our cost-per-impression pricing, as the ads are displayed on the Google Network member’s web site.

We have entered into arrangements with certain content providers under which we distribute or license their video and other content. In a number of these arrangements we display ads on the pages of our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites from which the content is viewed and share most of the fees these ads generate with the content providers and Google Network members. We recognize these advertiser fees as revenue and the portion of the advertiser fee we pay to our content providers as content acquisition costs under cost of revenues. In some cases, we guarantee our content providers minimum revenue share or other payments.

Our agreements with content providers are typically standard agreements with no stated term and are terminable at will. Agreements with our larger members are individually negotiated. Both the standard

 

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agreements and the negotiated agreements contain provisions requiring us to pay the content providers for the content we license or share, and the content providers receive most of the advertiser fees generated by ads displayed on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites.

In the third quarter of 2005, we launched our Google Print Ads program through which we distribute our advertisers’ ads for publication in print media. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers when their ads are published in print media. Also, in the first quarter of 2006, we acquired dMarc Broadcasting, Inc. (dMarc), a digital solutions provider for the radio broadcast industry and launched our Google Audio Ads program, which distributes our advertisers’ ads for broadcast in radio programs. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is broadcasted or a listener responds to that ad. We consider the magazines and radio stations that participate in these programs to be members of our Google Network.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, we acquired YouTube, a consumer media company for people to watch and share videos worldwide through the web. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is displayed on the YouTube site.

In the second quarter of 2007, we began delivering Google TV ads to viewers and helping advertisers, operators and programmers buy, schedule, deliver and measure ads on television. We recognize as revenue the fees charged advertisers each time an ad is displayed on TV in accordance with the terms of the related agreements. We consider the TV providers that participate in this program to be members of our Google Network.

We believe the factors that influence the success of our advertising programs include the following:

 

   

The relevance, objectivity and quality of our search results.

 

   

The number and type of searches initiated at our web sites.

 

   

The number and type of searches initiated at, as well as the number of visits to and the content of, our Google Network members’ web sites.

 

   

The advertisers’ return on investment (ad cost per sale or cost per conversion) from advertising campaigns on our web sites or our Google Network members’ web sites or other media compared to other forms of advertising.

 

   

The number of advertisers and the breadth of items advertised.

 

   

The total and per click or per impression advertising spending budgets of each advertiser.

 

   

The amount we ultimately pay our Google Network members and our content providers for traffic and content compared to the amount of revenue we generate.

 

   

The monetization of (or generation of revenue from) traffic on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites.

We believe that the monetization of traffic on our web sites, and our Google Network members’ web sites is affected by the following factors:

 

   

The relevance and quality of ads displayed with each search results page on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites, as well as with each content page on our Google Network members’ web sites, including the relevance and quality of an ad’s “landing page” or page a user views after an ad is clicked.

 

   

The number and prominence of ads displayed with each search results page on our web sites and our Google Network members’ web sites, as well as with each content page on our Google Network members’ web sites.

 

   

The rate at which our users and users of our Google Network members’ web sites click on advertisements.

 

   

Our minimum fee per click.

 

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We also generate revenue from the sale and license of our Search Appliance, which includes hardware, software and 12 to 24 months of post-contract support. We recognize as revenue the fee we charge customers ratably over the term of the post-contract support arrangement.

In the second quarter of 2006, we launched Google Checkout, an online shopping payment processing system for both consumers and merchants. We did not charge merchants any fees associated with the use of Google Checkout in 2007. On February 1, 2008, we began charging merchants who use Google Checkout to process sales 2% of the transaction amount plus $0.20 per transaction to the extent these fees exceed 10 times the amount they spend on AdWords advertising. We recognize as revenue any fees charged merchants on transactions processed through Google Checkout. Further, cash ultimately paid to merchants under Google Checkout promotions, including cash paid to merchants as a result of discounts provided to consumers on certain transactions processed through Google Checkout, is accounted for as an offset to revenues.

In the third quarter of 2007, we acquired Postini, a provider of electronic communications security, compliance, and productivity software. We recognize as revenue the fees we charge customers for hosting enterprise applications and services ratably over the terms of the service arrangements.

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