Google feels the force of recession - News in brief - Evening Standard
       

Google feels the force of recession

Recession is bearing down on internet search giant Google after the US firm posted its worst revenue performance in nearly five years as a public company.

Google, which owns YouTube, gained 5.51 billion US dollars (£3.7 billion) in revenues during the first three months of 2009 - 3% below the previous quarter and its first quarter-on-quarter drop.

Although Google was still 6% ahead of the same period last year, it is also the first time that year-on-year growth has dropped to single digits since its stock market launch in August 2004.

But the firm's results beat analyst expectations, while its online dominance puts it in a far better position than most other advertising-based businesses struggling to weather a global slowdown.

Chief executive Eric Schmidt said Google "had a good quarter given the depth of the recession".

"These results underline both the resilience of our business model and the ongoing potential of the web as users and advertisers shift online," he said.

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