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Alphabet Q1 2018 Earnings [pdf]

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Re: Alphabet Q1 2018 Earnings [pdf]

#141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's been said that they created the first self-replicating talent machine. Having worked with them, I believe it.

Could you elaborate on self-replicating talent machine (or link to posts if available)? Does that mean their talent attracts other talent from outside or their culture and process help develop (already talented) people working there into greater heights, or something else? It sounds really interesting and might benefit others as well.

Laszlo Bock, Google's former head of HR, covered this idea in his book "Work Rules" [1]. It's a good read.

(disclaimer: I work at Google, although I read the book before I joined. I remember initially thinking the book was just corporate PR, but later I had the opportunity to see firsthand how accurate it was)

[1] https://smile.amazon.com/Work-Rules-Insights-Inside-Transfor...

Re: Alphabet Q1 2018 Earnings [pdf]

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This argument is so lazy and seems to crop up every time income tax is discussed. It's perfectly fair to criticize tax policy while also acknowledging that you (and others like you) are paying a lot less than what you should be paying.

Why would that person necessarily acknowledge that? I suspect they don't agree with you. It's not as if there is an objectively correct amount of taxation, the matter is up for debate. To the founders of the country, for example, the federal tax rate in the US as it is today would constitute an obscene violation of their expectations.

Only if you instantly revived them and never provided them with the details of why we have an income tax. They would also be shocked by the lack of tariffs and other taxes.

Re: Alphabet Q1 2018 Earnings [pdf]

#144
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe check Amazon's tax rate before "this Republican tax policy" went into effect prior to blaming low corporate tax rates on one party. If you think lobbyist-driven tax policy in America is ONLY done by Republicans, you should probably expand your reading beyond CNN / WashPo. You're right that the federal government that creates the tax policy is for sale, but it's not just the Republicans.

OP might be exaggerating, but they are not talking about who lobbies, they are talking about the politicians who pass the bills and implement the tax cuts. In that they are right. In the house, 191 democrats voted against the tax overhaul, 0 voted for it. 227 republicans voted for it, 12 against it [0]. The senate was much the same [1]. You can say what you want, but this is a republican tax bill no matter who it ben…

Benefits the rich? You mean it benefits everyone. I'm not rich and my taxes went down.

Re: Alphabet Q1 2018 Earnings [pdf]

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That may be true (I haven't checked), but my guess is that germany (and most other western nations) offer a lot more government services for that level of tax. Taxing the middle class here the same as say, norway doesn't make sense unless you offer the same services. My half-decent insurance plan is one of my biggest monthly expenses and I'm lucky that it doesn't impact me too much. Many other "middle-class" people a…

> Taxing the middle class here the same as say, norway doesn't make sense unless you offer the same services. My point is that the bellyaching in America is targeted at the wrong thing. It's not about how much taxes rich people or corporations pay. That's not why Germany has free education and we don't. It's that a household making $100k pays 20% taxes here and 40% in Germany. That's the major difference between the…

Exactly. Lots of talk of taxing the rich, but if you look at other countries, the "rich" are clearly middle class. No other way to raise enough revenue.

Re: Alphabet Q1 2018 Earnings [pdf]

#146
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US corporate tax rate is now more in line with the OECD average: https://taxfoundation.org/us-corporate-income-tax-more-compe...

Yet the US lingers at the bottom of the OECD in terms of key criteria like healthcare, education, poverty, mobility. [1] The bulk of OECD have far stronger social indicators and spends. Perhaps a tax cut before achieving higher ranks on key criteria is misplaced. [1] http://www.sgi-network.org/docs/studies/SGI11_Social_Justice...

Yet the US lingers at the bottom of the OECD in terms of key criteria like healthcare, education, poverty, mobility.

In fact, it's so bad that there is a multiyear waitlist to immigrate!

Re: Alphabet Q1 2018 Earnings [pdf]

#147

Strong quarter again for Google. Pretty amazing to grow faster as the numbers get bigger.

Wow you're either a Google employee or huge fanboy. Every single one of your comments is pro-google/anti-apple.

I thought you were kidding but 3 pages in and not a single one outside those 2 topics.

Re: Alphabet Q1 2018 Earnings [pdf]

#148
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would that person necessarily acknowledge that? I suspect they don't agree with you. It's not as if there is an objectively correct amount of taxation, the matter is up for debate. To the founders of the country, for example, the federal tax rate in the US as it is today would constitute an obscene violation of their expectations.

Only if you instantly revived them and never provided them with the details of why we have an income tax. They would also be shocked by the lack of tariffs and other taxes.

"In 1794, when Congress appropriated $15,000 for relief of French refugees who fled from insurrection in San Domingo to Baltimore and Philadelphia. James Madison wrote disapprovingly, 'I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.'"

Unless you're taxing them federally for provisions outlined in the constitution, I'm inclined to disagree that they wouldn't have a problem with it.

Re: Alphabet Q1 2018 Earnings [pdf]

#149

My bet is that Google is poised to become a strong market protagonist in the Public Cloud / Infrastructure space, within the next few years. I have admired the stability and the maturity of their technology platform since my AWS days.

It'll be interesting to see how things play out. In the enterprise space the only two I hear companies talk about it Azure & AWS...

Re: Alphabet Q1 2018 Earnings [pdf]

#150
post #130

My notes.... Numbers: - Alphabet 1Q EPS $13.33, Est. $9.300 - free cash flow for the first quarter of $4.34 billion. - 1Q Google Other Rev. $4.35B - 1Q Rev. Ex-TAC $24.9B, Est. $24.3B - Capital expense for Google more than triples: up from $2.4 billion to $7.7 billion year-on-year. That probably reflects spending on hardware, including the Nest division. - Porat says that CapEx was "almost completely split" between p…

"- 1Q Paid Clicks +55%" Curious what makes that possible. I thought that most monitizable queries already had 100% of the above the fold content as ads. At some point, Google is no longer a search engine, but rather, a targeted ad engine with some organic search if you bother to click to page 2. Starting to feel like the old yellow pages in it's waning days. Edit: Honestly curious. How do you keep outpacing general i…

Google may have optimised ad impressions, but they are far from optimising ad clicks:

1. Last year I saw ads for cat food even though I don't have a cat and Google has access to my photo stream.

2. I searched for information on the new Pixel 2 phone, but Google continued to show me ads for it after I had bought it and was using it at the time.

3. I saw an ad for Android Pay, so I tried to sign up. But then Google told me my bank doesn't support Android pay. Fair enough, but why do they continue to advertise Android Pay to me?

4. On Apple's website I configured a new MacBook Pro and placed it in my shopping cart, but then had second thoughts and I didn't actually buy it for 6 months. In that time I didn't see a single Google ad for a MacBook Pro.

On top of that, I don't think Google has actually optimised ad impressions. When I read a Forbes article I see ads like, "You won't believe what these celebrities look like now". When I read The Economist I see ads for milk processing plant equipment. With all the personal information Google has about me, why aren't these publications using AdSense?

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