Google released its Q1 earnings report today. Average cost-per-click, the company reported (which includes clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of Network members), decreased 12% over the first quarter of 2011 and 6% over the fourth quarter of 2011.
This has been an area of concern for shareholders, with Google’s mobile business doing well, but with the revenue from mobile ads not being able to keep up. Things will change, however, if you believe what CEO Larry Page had to say during the company’s earnings call.
He said to think of it as there being “so much upside”. Mobile is exploding in query growth, he said, adding that the formats are just adapting a lot from a “relatively crude base.”
“Right now, they don’t monetize well,” he said, comparing it to search in the early 2000s.
People always spend most of their efforts on the major source of traffic, which is desktop, he said. But over time, he said, that will reverse. Over time, CPCs may actually get better,” he said. “We’re very bullish.”
He added that Google is making lots of investments in that area, such as Google Offers and Google Wallet.
He said we just haven’t seen the focus on it, and that Google is moving toward more focus on it. “I’m very, very bullish on that,” he reiterated.
Page also noted during the call that we’ll see more and more integrations of Google products with one another. It’s “definitely a big area of focus,” he said.
That’s right in line with everything we’ve been seeing from Google lately.