When major publications resort to link-baiting tactics in search of increasing pageviews, then it is a sign that things are not too well. How else can you explain a recent article on the well-respected publication that slowdown looms large on Google when in fact such a thing didn’t exist much even when recession was in town?
Here are some quotes from the recent piece and justification for why Bloomberg isn’t doing well
“it has been leapfrogged by social network Facebook Inc. as the most popular U.S. Web site.”
It has been argued over the past week how misleading the conclusion from Hitwise’s study is. Hitwise claims Facebook has overtaken just the search engine part of Google. Not Gmail. Not Picasa. Not the several hundred properties that Facebook owns. Secondly, the average revenue per user on Google search is much higher than the casual Farmviller on Facebook. More reason why Hitwise’s study means nothing.
“Google’s sales increased 9 percent last year after almost doubling in 2005.”
Even the most cynical of analysts would agree that companies cannot continue their dream run growth percentages once they have grown big. Secondly, a 9% growth for a company that makes money via advertising in a recession is pretty impressive.
Facebook’s gains at Google’s expense weren’t lost on Levi Strauss & Co. The closely held maker of blue jeans and Dockers pants is advertising on Facebook this year for the first time, while its budget for search, Google’s mainstay, is staying about the same as last year,
It’s surprising Levi Strauss didn’t do it earlier. Do we have numbers on the people who search for blue jeans before making a purchase online?
Google’s ventures in mobile, video and display ads have failed to match the success of search
This might be the wrong time to call upon Youtube as a failure since we have just about started hearing that the world’s largest video sharing website could in fact turn profitable starting this year. Also, in mobile, Google’s Android OS is seen as potentially the likely successor to the success of the iPhone and the Android marketplace is projected to overtake the App Store by the next year.
Here is the complete Bloomberg article. What do you make of it? Does it look like an article borne out of genuine concern? You decide!