Google announced revenue growth that was its lowest since 2009, according to Ben Schachter at Macquarie Research. Critically, Google’s paid click growth increased only 17% year-over-year while in the past it has increased 30% every quarter. Analysts expected 22% year-over-year growth. The cost per click was also down.
Incursions by Facebook and standalone apps into Google’s core business–how people get information–may be responsible for the slow down. People using shopping apps and news-curation apps like Flipboard cut Google out of the info gathering process. Facebook is increasingly a source of information supplied by people’s networks of friends. Even when that information originates from a Google search, when it’s shared on Facebook Google is out of the picture. Google’s other businesses–and there are many–are generally unaffected by the search dip.
