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Technology Stocks : Alphabet Inc. (Google) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (6270)	1/19/2006 6:08:17 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15857

blog commentary. these bloggers know goog better than the analysts, worth a read. Some wonder if Google's quarterly results (coming Jan. 31) will disappoint -- if Yahoo's recent slightly-below-expectations numbers are a bellwether for the sector. Probably not, think most analysts, including, it seems, top Yahoo brass. Seems it's come to the attention of top Yahoo execs that Google's ad platform kicks Overture's tail. No, not just a little bit. I mean this Overture thing is really holding Yahoo back. Terry Semel's being polite about it in public, but I imagine he's becoming more and more impatient the longer it takes that unit to overhaul the Overture (Y!SM) beast. Back to Google. As my subscribers read in December's special update, Google's new quality scoring formula will have had a measurable impact on Google's financials, since it clearly affected a wide range of advertiser accounts. We won't know until we know, but my strong suspicion is that Google intends (or expects) to wow Wall Street with a higher average cost per click. They've knocked out the lower-priced clicks, taking on lowball bids from a number of angles (albeit indirectly, through a new ad ranking system that is intended to solve numerous problems at once). What this will appear to do, I think, is raise the average CPC, and thus Google's reported profit margins. Yet it leaves quite a bit of inventory unmonetized, leaving further room for growth, and keeping users happy. Wall Street seems to like companies that have the power to "raise prices." In fact, I remember the delight exhibited by the CNBC dude when Ted Meisel of Overture came on boasting about their ability to raise minimum CPC's from .05 to .10 (those were the days -- when that actually seemed to matter). "So you've got pricing power." The market marveled and Overture kept rolling. Imagine if Google, at $400+ per share, gets the same red carpet treatment. This is also a temporary way of dampening revenue growth (so it doesn't look ridiculous and set unrealistic expectations). So much for GOOG not being concerned about "earnings management." Advertisers are hoping this is just a bout of temporary insanity so Google can snap up a few companies with their $600+ stock. Because a lot of them (not just evil ones) get a real kick out of being able to bid on that lower-cost inventory. Without it, the Long Tail is one of those nice little Web 2.0 fairy stories that doesn't actually apply to your situation. Anyway, when Google's earnings report is on track again, don't be too surprised. They're raking it in, and for the sake of optics -- for now, at least -- they'll have put together a quarter that shows a higher average CPC across the board, making it look like a stagnant average CPC trend has reversed itself. Only time will tell if CPC's are actually rising. webpronews.com

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (6270)	1/19/2006 8:20:01 PM
From: manalagi	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15857

I think GOOG is the only "next microsoft" type of opportunity, jmo. The barrier of entry for Google's type of business is not that compelling. Just imagine a decade ago where there were dozens of search engines, and Google came out with an outstanding algorithm. What was needed was a large computer to launch its approach. There will be other geniuses that can come up with better methods and that will take away Google's advantage. IMHO, the only "next microsoft" is Qualcomm for which every phone in the world will have to use its CDMA patents. Now, there is a prohibitive barrier of entry for competing against Qualcomm. I personally wish the rosy days of Google will continue as my son is heavily committed to the stock. My reservation is that legal entangling will linger for a while.

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (6270)	1/19/2006 8:32:12 PM
From: jerry sullivan	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 15857

I heard justice department suit and Google and almost ran for the hills. Remember Msft? ugh...On closer reflection, I am 100% behind Goog on this one. They can have 10% of my account to fight this all the way to the supreme court. To actually prove what they need here, doesn't require the entire results of all searches on Google for a week. The justice dept could use their own computers to do searches of key words on google and the others to see if porn were displayed to the underage crowd... This should be a parents job of watching over their kids deal, and not for the law makers. It is just a problem that those justice department lawyer dudes don't understand just what you can truly do to protect their kids from the net..if that's what they want to do. There is no computer made that can't be fully examined....So you delete all the temp internet files and think you are safe?,....The only way to erase a hard drive is with salt water and a sludge hammer..and that will get rid of 40%....this has darker meanings. I am for free everything. I say fight. You go Google....jerry