The search giant's revenue and profit growth decelerated much faster than analysts forecast in the fourth quarter, raising a deep concern that the money-making machine must also "kneel" first. possibility of recession of the US economy.

Not surprisingly, investors reacted negatively to this information, suggesting that Google shares fell by 6.5% in the following trading sessions.

Specifically, in the last three months of 2007, Google earned $ 1.21 billion, equivalent to $ 3.79 per share. In fact, this figure still recorded a 17% increase over the same period last year, when its net profit was only $ 1.03 billion, equivalent to $ 3.29 per share.

Since the official IPO, this is not the first time Google's quarterly profit growth is lower than 25%.

However, Google argues that if not bonus shares for employees, its profit has reached $ 4.43 per share, lower than analysts' expectations for a penny.

Even so, CEO Eric Schmidt still eloquently affirmed that "Google does not encounter any negative impact from the" rumor "about the future economic crisis".

Co-founder Sergey Brin said: " There is no evidence that the US economy is affecting its business ," and that " things are still going very well ."

Can't be optimistic

Profit in Q4 Google caused disappointment images 1 Source: Reuters Only, investors do not seem to share that optimism with Brin. Concern about the economy has contributed to the price of Google shares fell nearly 20% in January last, and it seems that selling power in February is still very strong.

The total amount of paid clicks in the fourth quarter of Google increased by only 30% over the same period in 2006, significantly lower than the record rate of 52% in the first quarter of 2007. "Collaborative" contracts with MySpace also failed to generate revenue as expected.

After "sharing revenue" with "linked" websites, Google still retains its $ 3.39 billion, a figure not bad. Anyhow, compared to previous analysts' estimates, this revenue is still about $ 60 million lower.

Other technology firms must still be very jealous of the search giant's "business style". But be aware, the $ 175 billion market value of Google 's code today is built on the impression that "Google is a tireless promotion. The next quarter exploded over the previous quarter."

So just "don't explode" as expected, it's easy to believe.