Google’s share value has hit an all-time high, calming Wall Street jitters about the search giant’s ability to adapt to mobile internet access and social networking.
On Monday, Google shares soared by $15.39 to $749.38, a new pinnacle representing a massive 30 percent ($75 billion) rise to its stock market value in just three months.
The news will doubtless capture the attention of the inquiring search engine marketing specialist and business development manager. Despite industry concerns about the Do Not Track feature recently announced for a forthcoming Chrome browser, the firm’s online advertising sales appear to be in rude health.
Outfacing the mobile and social networking competition
The year has not been plain sailing for the search leviathan, however, as it faced significant encroachments into its markets by a coterie of big internet firms such as eBay, Amazon and Priceline. The financial meltdown of 2008 also hit Google hard, triggering an advertising famine. Although search eventually proved to be a robust form of advertising during the recession, the rise of social networking and the massive switch to mobile have combined to fan investor fears that their lower advertising costs would erode Google’s core business.
The fears aren’t without foundation – recent data suggests that almost three quarters of SMEs in the U.S. are planning to increase or maintain their current mobile advertising spend over the coming year, with 30 percent planning to increase it. Between 2011 and 2012, spending on mobile advertising in the U.S. surged by a colossal $1.17 billion to $2.4 billion.
The importance of digital display advertising
But Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick four years ago and its subsequent push into the online display advertising market has been paying off handsomely, to the extent that internet analyst “eMarketer” forecasts that Google is set to become the biggest digital display firm of the year, topping Facebook.
For its part, Facebook’s recent rally in stock value went into reverse on Monday, falling by 9 percent. The fall may be connected with media questions following a recent report in the British Financial Times on Facebook’s courtship with a controversial data company to enhance its advertising value, and an assessment from Barron’s which suggests that its share price remains overvalued.