Google Announces Fourth Quarter And Fiscal Year 2008 Results
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - January 22, 2009 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced financial results for the quarter and for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008.
"Google performed well in the fourth quarter, despite an increasingly difficult economic environment. Search query growth was strong, revenues were up in most verticals, and we successfully contained costs," said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. "It's unclear how long the global downturn will last, but our focus remains on the long term, and we'll continue to invest in Google's core search and ads business as well as in strategic growth areas such as display, mobile, and enterprise."
Google also announced today that it is planning to offer employees a voluntary, one-for-one stock option exchange. This program, intended to create more incentives for employees to remain at Google and contribute to achieving its business objectives, is currently scheduled to begin on January 29, 2009 and end on March 3, 2009, unless Google is required or opts to extend the offer period to a later date. Please see the section "Employee Stock Option Exchange" below for more details.