Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)
A growing number of people are interested in earning money online. This trend has picked up tons of steam over the past 10 years, and there is no reason to think that this will change in the future. With all this in mind, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been at the center of the conversation for quite some time. The search engine giant has done all that it can to help people all over the world earn money online.
A decade of AdSense
Did you know it has been a decade since Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) launched its AdSense program, with the hopes of helping publishers earn money via their website? While things are not the same as they were in 2003, this program continues to push forward and help millions of people around the globe make money online.
If you don’t understand just how importantAdSense has become to the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) business model, you will want to check out the company’s most recent blog post. Here is an excerpt:
“Fast-forward 10 years, and AdSense has become a core part of Google’s advertising business. The AdSense community has grown to include more than 2 million publishers, and last year alone, publishers earned more than $7 billion from AdSense. AdSense is a community that thrives because of all the content creators we are so fortunate to partner with. Their stories inspire us to do our part to make AdSense great.”
If you have never used the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) AdSense program this may not mean much to you. However, it has likely impacted your search activity in one way or the next. For example, many of the websites you visit on a regular basis probably use this program to earn money.
Believe it or not, there are many people who earn a full-time living thanks to the Google AdSense program. This may not be something the search giant saw coming 10 years ago, but over the past decade it has truly grown into one of the best ways to earn online.
To celebrate the 10-year anniversary, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is doing the following:
“As part of our 10th anniversary celebration, we hope you’ll tune into our live Hangout on Air today (Tuesday, June 18) at 10 a.m. PDT (5 p.m. GMT) on the AdSense Google+ page. I look forward to joining several of our partners to share stories from the early days of AdSense, talk about how we’ve all grown since then, and discuss the future for publishers and online advertising. And if you want even more 10th anniversary celebration, just visit our AdSense 10th anniversary page at any time.”
Solid growth
It goes without saying that AdSense has grown to become an essential part of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s business model. Two years after launch, the program accounted for 15% of Google’s total top line, and over the past few years, this percentage has fluctuated in the upper twenties, and is consistently above the one-fourth mark. Google shares 68% of revenue generated by AdSense with content network partners, and 51% of revenue generated by AdSense with AdSense for Search partners, indicating that there’s potential for upward mobility of the tech giant requires it over the long-term.
The successor
More importantly, though, it’s Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s potential successor—which Larry Page already indicates is the replacement for AdWords—that is worth clamoring over. In the company’s latest conference call, Page had this to say about Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s new program, Enhanced Campaigns:
“Our goal is simple; to enable advertisers to focus on their audience and their message while we dynamically adapt their campaigns across multiple devices. I’ve been very pleased with the rate of progress so far. We are smoothly moving a huge advertising system and ecosystem on a dime.”
Adding to his point, Page mentioned that the goal of Enhanced Campaigns is to make “make advertising across devices really simple for our customers,” with Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora calling it “an important long-term bet that will help market tiers.” It’s reported that over 1 million campaigns were upgraded to Enhanced Campaigns in the first quarter, with more adoption expected in Q2, but the point is simple: more simplicity should yield better results.
Should investors take notice?
With the passing of AdSense’s 10-year anniversary, a more connected future has Google’s top-line prospects looking quite bright, and on the bottom line, analysts agree. Wall Street expects Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s earnings to grow by 14.9% a year over the next half-decade, and shares aren’t too expensive at a PEG of 1.8.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which is experimenting with a new advertising concept of its own, in which fluid, motion-filled contextual designs are used to boost interaction, sports less expected growth. Sell-side analysts expect Mr. Softy to grow its EPS by an annual rate of 8.7% through 2017, and its shares are actually more expensive than Google’s, at a PEG above 2.0.
This basic fact gives Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) the decided advantage from a valuation standpoint, which is something that it cannot say when compared to Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO). Yahoo’s recent acquisition of Tumblr has literally filled the company’s newsfeed for the past two weeks, and the company’s continued push for in-organic growth has some analysts feeling quite bullish.
The Street predicts Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) to generate better EPS growth than Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) at 13.5% a year over the next five, and it’s clear that the markets haven’t caught up to this potential; shares trade at a PEG near 0.5. Clearly, this forecast rests on Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s ability to build an advertising platform on Tumblr’s massive network of homemade blogs in a manner that’s “tasteful and seamless,” according to Marissa Mayer.
Final thoughts
If Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s recent home page re-design is any indication, Mayer’s ability to influence design in a “tasteful” manner is proficient, so Yahoo/Tumblr bulls have cause to be excited. Still, when compared to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google, it’s the latter that still looks like the dominant force in online advertising, and its 10-year AdSense anniversary should give way to another 10 years of prosperity with Enhanced Campaigns. We’d prefer growth to value here, and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)—which continues to edge closer to the $1,000 mark—offers the best combination of both factors in comparison to its closest peers. Continue reading here to learn more about Insider Monkey’s top market-beating strategy.
Disclosure: none
