Google announces strong Q4 revenue

Google has turned in an excellent performance for the end of 2012. Google Inc. revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2012 was $14.42 billion, an increase of 36 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2011.

"We ended 2012 with a strong quarter," said Larry Page, CEO of Google. "Revenues were up 36 per cent year-on-year, and 8 per cent quarter-on-quarter. And we hit $50 billion in revenues for the first time last year - not a bad achievement in just a decade and a half. In today's multi-screen world we face tremendous opportunities as a technology company focused on user benefit. It's an incredibly exciting time to be at Google."

Page said, in response to analyst questions, "We consider mobile to be an extension of our desktop products." Page sees advertising revenue improving on mobile, as Google continues to make improvements to their systems. "On an Android phone, Chrome is just an amazing experience. The experiences are improving a lot, and very, very quickly," Page said,

Google's importance to the gaming industry is likely to increase with the continued growth in sales of Android smartphones and tablets. This year will also see the introduction of dedicated Android-based game consoles like Ouya and GameStick, as well as Nvidia's Shield handheld gaming console.