Google delivers first decent tech results

Google GOOG +8.35%  reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings, as ad buying volume increased. The quarter saw the launch of new “enhanced” ad campaigns, which makes it easier for advertisers to buy a diverse group of ads across a range of devices and platforms — including mobile. The increase in mobile ads, however, also contributed the falling cost-per-click, which continued to decelerate. Mobile ads typically are less expensive.

Google executives declined to quantify the impact the new ad buying program was having on its results so far, saying the company was focused on improving the whole ad buying process.

“It’s a process where we’re all going through this together,” said Nikesh Arora, senior vice president and chief business officer. He said that “advertisers love this new mechanism,” and that Google is seeing great progress with the effort that it launched in February.

In addition to the continued deceleration of the price per click, analysts also expressed concern about the ongoing losses in the Motorola Mobility division, with one noting that the company is about to an annual run rate of about $1 billion in losses there. “It’s still early days for us,” Arora said when asked about when Motorola might be profitable. Google executives declined to predict when it would turn the corner, saying they are in the business for the long haul.

The results put Google’s stock above the $950 mark in after-hours trades — which will be a new all-time high if the shares maintain that level in Friday’s trades. This week has seen the first group of big tech earnings, and the results have been mostly glum from the likes of Intel INTC -0.08% and IBM IBM +0.27%  

While it’s possible that some of the uplift came from tech investors piling on to good news, it’s worth noting that Google’s ad-heavy business has little in common with many of the key drivers for other big tech firms. A slew of results next week may bear that out. 

Read more : http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-delivers-first-decent-tech-results-2013-10-17