Google’s Search for Sales, Profit Falls Short

Reporter II January 31, 2015

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In this Oct. 17, 2012, file photo, a man raises his hand during at Google offices in New York. People should have some say over the results that pop up when they conduct a search of their own name online, Europe's highest court said Tuesday, May 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

(AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

Richard Nieva, CNET

(CNET.com)—For the past few quarters, Google’s finances have been the story of same-old, same-old: Desktop search — its biggest business — is getting stale, but it still makes billions.

The story stayed true on Thursday when Google reported lagging revenue, as more people find what they want from their smartphones and tablets. And as competitors, including Facebook, draw more of the mobile users that advertisers are trying to court.

For the sixth time in seven quarters, Wall Street analysts still weren’t wowed by the company’s performance. Google, the world’s largest search engine, said sales, excluding traffic acquisition costs, were $14.48 billion. Profit, minus some costs, was $6.88 a share. That fell short of analysts’ estimates of $14.7 billion in revenue and earnings of $7.12 per share.

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