Is Google’s throne “iron”?

Leaked report on Google’s earnings is hypothesizing that Google is struggling hard to remain relevant in search engine dominance.

The primary reason, being cited by Eric Jackson of Ironfire, is the observed sharp decline in Google’s cost-per-click (CPC) revenue, which was down 15%, even in the face of increased ad sales.  Jackson believes that if CPC revenues continue to decline, it will be a precursor to decreased ad sales. The reason is explained as more and more people switch to performing searches on mobile devices.

Observations show desktop sourced searches decline.  Mobile ads are not as popular with advertisers, despite lower cost, because the ads are not as prominently displayed as can be done with a desktop. With a continued trend of a decline in desktop searches and a rise in mobile searches, however, Google faces a continued decline in CPC. That opens the door for other players to offer news ways for consumers to search, and Jackson thinks that Apple may emerge as a contender in this realm.

Is Google then at risk of becoming like Yahoo?! Is its “throne” becoming unstable? Not really. Even though Google and Yahoo! are similar in many ways, the way Google is innovating and advancing its services is a wholesale departure from the avenues that Yahoo! took. Google is now positioned quite high with its wide array of products, including the Android operating system. That alone puts quite a bit of leverage on Google’s side when it comes to advancing new advertising and marketing. And we have already seen subtle shifts that began with Google’s revised privacy policy across all its services and platforms.

So, while technology may one day change the landscape, we still have no doubt that Google will long remain highly relevant in the search space.