Google Reports Mobile Ad Growth

Google is going strong. The company reported 21 percent growth in the second quarter 2012, compared to Q2 2011. The firm generated $10.5 billion in ad revenues in Q2, accounting for 96 percent of its total revenues.

Google pointed to mobile ad growth, and spotlighted a new shopping feature on Google.com that surfaces products and prices, and allows users to refine their search by brand.

“I think digital advertising is really in de-frag mode,” suggested Nikesh Arora, SVP and chief business officer.

Google reported its sites raked in $7.5 billion, a 21 percent boost over the same period last year. As for the Google network, just under $3 billion came in, a 20 percent increase over Q2 2011.

The company’s paid clicks business was “very strong” according to CFO Patrick Pichette. Paid clicks on Google sites and partner sites rose a whopping 42 percent. However, CPC prices fell 16 percent.

The firm touted the growth of its mobile ads. The number of Google mobile advertisers have doubled in less than a year, said Arora, noting that “over a million advertisers” have run mobile campaigns with Google. “Mobile is, right now, where search was in 1999,” said Arora. “We are seeing mobile CPCs are healthy.”

Arora said firms like Danone in France and H&M in Sweden are currently running campaigns with Google. H&M, for instance, is using Google+ extensions on its search ads. More users are accessing Google+ from mobile than desktop, said Susan Wojcicki, SVP advertising for Google.