It’s no secret that Google is a giant online, especially when it comes to search engines. But what about offline? How much of an impact does Google make within our greater economy and for the local businesses that you frequent?
It appears that their influence spreads to every corner of the country’s economy and everywhere in between. Google just released reports that lay out how much their company has helped other businesses generate revenue state-by-state.
Which States Have Seen the Biggest Google Benefits?
The state-by-state report is a first for Google which has seen no loss of momentum during the current recession. In fact, because other businesses had to make better use of their marketing dollars many turned to online advertising which is more measureable and targeted. And online advertising is Google’s bread and butter.
As Google’s revenue has increased so has the revenue of businesses that utilize their services. Within the report, Google estimates that each dollar spent on their Adwords advertising program results in a profit of $8 on average. You don’t have to be a financial or marketing expert to know those kind of returns are impressive.
The numbers at a glance:
$23.7 billion – Google’s 2009 revenue
$54 billion – Google’s estimation of how much revenue it generated for other US businesses in 2009
$14.1 billion – the amount top Google benefactor California made in 2009
$15.935 million – the amount the lowest earning state, Alaska, made in 2009
What’s Included in the Economic Impact?
Google included 3 main sources of revenue to come up with their report estimates. These are:
Google Search - search clicks and Adwords – the ads that show up on Google search result pages
Google Grants for non-profits
Money that Google pays to other web publishers for running ads – AdSense program
Though $54 billion is really impressive for a single company, Google says that they provide additional economic benefits beyond what’s included in the recent report. Not taken into consideration is how much of a difference their search information influences consumer spending, or the fact that they employ thousands of people who are also out their spending.
How will Google Impact Our Economy in the Future?
It’s safe to say that Google will be a major player for some time, although Facebook and Twitter are now moving into online advertising. But Google has a wide reach within the world wide web that they plan to spread well beyond their search engine.
Currently YouTube.com, which was acquired by Google in October of 2006 for $1.65 billion, is the second largest search engine and the go to site for online videos, an industry that is picking up speed quickly. Google also recently bought out AdMob, the leading mobile advertising company, for $750 million.
In addition, Google will soon be venturing into the real world with their plans to lay down a fiber-optic network. The goal is to improve internet access and streaming media online – so you can use Google even more than you do today.