GOOG Up Marginally With Tech Stocks are rising cautiously in morning trading, a day after the S&P 500 hit its lowest level in over two months wiping out important technical levels as investors grew more apprehensive of the economy. Shares of GOOG are up slightly, while the rest of tech is trading higher. Upcoming catalysts include continued
Android momentum in the smartphone and tablet markets; regaining ground in China; updated software, adoption and media partners for
Google TV; the roll-out of
Google Music; and progress in other newer initiatives (
+1, location-based services, mapping, gaming, Chromebooks, etc.). The stock trades at approximately
12x Enterprise Value / EBIT, inexpensive relative to peers and historical trading levels.
Facebook Could Put Google Out Of Business By Entering Targeted Search (TechCrunch) Ben Elowitz, co-founder of Wetpaint and Blue Nile, says Facebook can put Google out of business. The statement seems absurd, but Elowitz makes a decent point. Google has been unbeatable because its search algorithm churns out the most accurate results. Should Facebook, which already knows the behavioral patterns of nearly 700 million people, move into search, results could be targeted to specific individuals. Alyson Shontell at
Business Insider believes that while Google has other businesses,
killing the company's foundation would be hard to recover from. However, Matt Rosoff at
Business Insider believes the whole thing is the
silliest idea ever.
Read » Google's Tension With Chinese Government Once Again Hits Boiling Point (Reuters) Google's recent exposure of more attempted Gmail hacking, targeting US government officials and Chinese human-rights activists, has obviously made the Chinese government embarrassed and angry. According to Chinese press, Google has become a "political tool" vilifying the Chinese government, warning that the U.S. Internet giant's statements about hacking attacks traced to China could hurt its business and plans for growth. Clearly this indicates that political tensions between the U.S. and China over Internet security could linger.
Read » IDC Slashes PC Shipment Growth, Not Great For Chromebooks
(Various via techDygest) IDC slashed its worldwide PC shipment growth forecast to about half of its original prediction, as consumer demand for personal computers remains weak in mature markets. Initially, the analysis firm projected 7.1% yearly growth in February, but halved that forecast to just 4.2% growth after a weak first quarter. Not a great environment for Chromebooks. Steve Kovach at
Business Insider has called
Google's laptop endeavor dead on arrival.
Read » Google Buys Social Content Analytics Company, PostRank (TechCrunch) In another move that makes it clear that Google is putting a much greater focus on social (because they haven't been vocal enough about it), the search giant has just acquired PostRank. PostRank is a service that helps measure how far content, like tweets and Facebook updates, spread across the web. The technology scans the web in real-time for "social engagement events:" comments and tweets. Brands and publishers can then gauge how influential their content is online.
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