In Google’s earnings call today, the search giant’s CEO and co-founder Larry Page revealed that its mobile run rate is now $8 billion. That’s up from $2.5 billion a year ago. That’s a pretty hefty lift-the company’s mobile ad revenue has more than tripled over the past year.
But Patrick Pichette, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Google, clarified in the call that the new run rate for this quarter includes more than just gross mobile ad revenue. Now, the new mobile run rate includes revenue from sales of Google Play mobile content and gross revenue from spending on Play apps.
As we’ve written in the past, most of Google’s mobile ad revenues still come from search ads. But it would be interesting to see how much mobile display ads are bringing in. And of course, it would be helpful to see exactly how much mobile content and Play apps are bringing in as well.
Pichette added in the call that Google isn’t breaking down margins and details on the different sources. He says that mobile ads continue to represent the vast majority of the revenue. In terms of Google Play, Google counts revenue from everything that is content, including books, movies and more. And revenue tied to Google Play apps is booked on a net basis. And while Pichette declined to reveal specific numbers for each mobile source, he did say that revenue from apps and Play content is “a huge number”.
The company also emphasized that it is figuring out how to monetize ads using the same campaign across a user’s multiple screens, including mobile, TV, and web.
You can read Page’s prepared remarks here.
