Google delivers good-looking 4Q in ugly recession

Google delivers good-looking 4Q in ugly recession

Google 4Q results emerge as bright spot amid gloom, but investors still worried

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc.'s fourth quarter wasn't picture perfect, but the results looked good in an ugly recession.
Although Google suffered its first-ever decline in quarterly profit because of a $1.1 billion accounting charge, the Internet search leader fared far better than its peers and proved it has the discipline to curb its free-spending ways in tough times.
Even as the Google tightened its belt, its fourth-quarter revenue climbed 18 percent to $5.7 billion. It's the first time since Google went public in 2004 that its quarterly revenue growth has been less than 30 percent, but it was still a double-digit increase in a backpedaling economy.
"It was a pretty impressive performance in this kind of downturn," said Stanford Group analyst Clayton Moran.
Google's showing contrasted sharply against the performance of its biggest rival, Microsoft Corp., during the same period. Microsoft not only missed analyst forecasts, but telegraphed its diminishing expectations by disclosing plans to lay off about 5,000 workers during the next 18 months.