Google did not meet its expected third quarter profit and revenue estimates, as the company's advertising business slows down.
Google reported a slowing growth in advertising volumes for the quarter, increasing the worries among investors on the company's efforts in adapting to a mobile-oriented landscape.
However, despite the glaring slowdown of Google's advertising business, investors and analysts are looking towards the significant growth that the company has gained in other business components, namely in music and software sales, along with mobile devices.
Google's Play Store, the counterpart of the Apple Store where users can purchase apps, music, movies and games, is one of the several business units of the company that is not dependent on Google's advertising activities. As such, it can be found in the "others" segment within Google's business divisions.
However, this segment made up 11 percent of the revenue of Google for the quarter, raking in sales of $1.84 billion that is equivalent to a growth rate of 50 percent.
According to Kerry Rice, an analyst for Needham & Co., the revenue that Google can gain from this category of its business units could grow to double over the coming few years.
Also part of the category are Google's hardware products, including the Chromecast TV dongle that allows users to project videos played on PCs to the TV.
Google's reported profit for the quarter, excluding some items, was at $6.35 per share, which falls short of the average expectation of analysts of $6.53 per share. Total revenue, not including sales that are passed on to the company's partners, was reported to be $13.2 billion, which falls just below the prediction of analysts.
Net income for the third quarter decreased by 5.4 percent to $2.81 billion, equivalent to $4.09 per share, compared to $2.97 billion, or $4.38 per share, in the same period last year.
Larry Page, the CEO of Google, continues to increase the company's investments in everything from software to services for mobile. The revenue that Google gained from its own websites was up by 20 percent, but the company's expenses on hiring and research development increased by almost 50 percent.
"The trend lines are OK, but you are slowing -- growth certainly is slowing," said Macquarie Securities USA analyst Ben Schachter.
"They're spending a lot to get the talent that they have. What needs to happen is you need to start to seeing some of the nontraditional areas contribute more to Google results."
