SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google’ first-quarter earnings report, which arrives after the market closes Thursday, is likely to reveal how effectively the company is managing its dominance of the Internet search market as it expands into the mobile device market.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The results cover the first three months of the year, a time when Internet advertising tails off after the traditional holiday marketing frenzy. But that doesn’t prevent Google from growing at an impressive clip for a company of its size. Google’s ad sales, its main moneymaker, are expected to rise by nearly 20 percent from the same time last year, based on analysts’ estimates. Most of the gains flow from Google’s leadership of Internet search, where it handles about two of every three requests for online information.
