Ad sales growth decelerated at Google during the first quarter of 2019, which prompted its parent company Alphabet to report that revenue fell below analysts’ estimates.
Revenue
for the quarter came in at $36.34 billion compared with the $37.33 billion expected. Analysts polled by FactSet expected revenue of $37.3 billion.
Paid clicks on Google properties rose
39%, with cost per clicks on Google properties declining 19%.
Traffic volume to Google sites continue to slow. Paid clicks on Google properties grew a mere 39%, compared with the year-ago
quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2018, Google saw paid clicks rise 66%, for example.
The company also recorded record fines, such as the $1.7 billion settlement last month for stifling
competition in the online advertising space. The company’s operating income also rose 26% to $8.31 billion, excluding the fine.
Worldwide, Google will generate $103.73 billion in
net digital ad revenue in 2019, taking a 31.1% share of the digital ad market.
Facebook comes in at No. 2 with a 20.2% share.
According to eMarketer, Google
will capture 61.1% of the $141.21 billion search market worldwide and 10.1% of the $172.08 billion global display market in 2019, putting it at No.3 in the world behind
Facebook and Alibaba.
Google also will capture 35.4% of the $231.12 billion worldwide mobile ad market. Facebook comes in at No. 2 with a 27.1% share.