Google’s shares tanked yesterday after figures revealing a 20pc fall in profits were accidentally published 4 hours early. The equivalent of almost £14bn was wiped off the company value when the announcement, which was scheduled for release after the markets closed for the day, was released four hours early.
Some are arguing that the fall in profits is dues to a failure to monetise mobile internet use, a problem that Facebook has also struggled with. Google is spending more than ever, despite a promise to share holders to cut their spending and staff. The drop in profit could be as simple as people not favouring the search engine as much as they have in the past. It could be that people are now using other search engines or are going straight to sites like Amazon and searching for products there.
We will have to wait and see if the share prices recover or if its a significant sign of things to come for the search giant.
