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Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

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Re: Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

#91

Post by ur-whale »

HWR_14 wrote: post #48

Once more, I don't understand how advertising revenue keeps growing. Once people install ad blockers, they don't typically remove them. And ad-blockers keep growing. So who is actually seeing these ads? How can those numbers be going up ? I understand, intellectually, that not everyone thinks like me. But I don't fundamentally understand why people allow ads on their devices when they can prevent it. Then again, I do…

> when they can prevent it.

Most people wouldn't know where to start to install an ad blocker.

They don't even understand the concept, much less know that it even exists.

Re: Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

#92

Post by TheDong »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #74
TheDong wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Once people install ad blockers, they don't typically remove them. And ad-blockers keep growing > don't fundamentally understand why people allow ads on their devices when they can prevent it The market share of iOS also has increased a bit, and iOS does not allow ad blocking very easily. You have to configure some sorta DNS-based ad blocking, which is harder than the traditional desktop firefox/chrome adblockers t…

>The market share of iOS also has increased a bit, and iOS does not allow ad blocking very easily. You have to configure some sorta DNS-based ad blocking, which is harder than the traditional desktop firefox/chrome adblockers to install. Are you considering installing a content blocker not easy? Or not ad blocking? Firefox Focus is free and a few taps away from the app store. Seems easier to me than installing ublock…

> Are you considering installing a content blocker not easy? Or not ad blocking?

If you google how to install an adblocker on iOS, you get garbage results which will mostly only work for safari, and will mostly not block google's ads ("acceptable ads").

If I google 'ios ad blocker' and install the apps in the order recommended, I think I'd have to go through ~10 garbage apps before I got to firefox focus.

... And I think for a lot of people, firefox focus isn't viable because they want their chrome bookmarks to sync etc.

When I said "DNS-based ad blocking, which is harder than the traditional desktop firefox/chrome adblockers to install.", I was mostly thinking of installing pi-hole since that's the reliable way to block stuff on iOS, since otherwise the matrix of content blockers is a total mess. I'll stand by pi-hole being too much for most people.

Re: Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

#93

Post by slownews45 »

jarek83 wrote: post #77
HWR_14 wrote: post #48

Once more, I don't understand how advertising revenue keeps growing. Once people install ad blockers, they don't typically remove them. And ad-blockers keep growing. So who is actually seeing these ads? How can those numbers be going up ? I understand, intellectually, that not everyone thinks like me. But I don't fundamentally understand why people allow ads on their devices when they can prevent it. Then again, I do…

Please mind that google started to show search results in a fashion that if search "A company" then the first link is the ad pointing to the "A company" website and only next is the same exact link to that company website. This is pure cheating and I'm amazed how they can both: laugh at advertisers face and keep it legal.

Don't advertise that way if you don't want to? I'm failing to see what the issue is. If you don't mind and advertiser saying, hey, look at me instead, then don't pay google to advertise.

Re: Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

#94

Post by sillysaurusx »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #74
TheDong wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Once people install ad blockers, they don't typically remove them. And ad-blockers keep growing > don't fundamentally understand why people allow ads on their devices when they can prevent it The market share of iOS also has increased a bit, and iOS does not allow ad blocking very easily. You have to configure some sorta DNS-based ad blocking, which is harder than the traditional desktop firefox/chrome adblockers t…

>The market share of iOS also has increased a bit, and iOS does not allow ad blocking very easily. You have to configure some sorta DNS-based ad blocking, which is harder than the traditional desktop firefox/chrome adblockers to install. Are you considering installing a content blocker not easy? Or not ad blocking? Firefox Focus is free and a few taps away from the app store. Seems easier to me than installing ublock…

Well, youtube videos open in the youtube iOS app. It's hard to block ads in a native app.

Is there a way?

Re: Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

#95

Post by echelon »

rige wrote: post #81
echelon wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's one thing to click ads. It's quite another to do it for a company you own stock in.

Hmm, I don't understand what would make that fraudulent, could you explain? Many users, and presumably many shareholders, click on ads that aren't relevant to them, or search for things that aren't relevant to their interests or purchases -- I would think that's just one of the many assumptions built into the advertising market.

> Every so often I'll google something like Criminal Defense Attorney, send money, or file taxes and click on the highest ads.

The original poster is deliberately searching for some of the highest cost per click ads [1]. They have no intention of using these services, and they're moving lots of money from the ad purchaser to Google. Up to $50 per click.

This person owns stock in Google and has a vested interest in seeing their revenues go up.

These effects are minuscule, but it's not far off from stealing a furniture item every time you go to Target. Someone is paying for these and it has a nonzero effect on Google stock.

[1] https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/06/27/most-expensive...

Re: Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

#96

Post by slownews45 »

hogFeast wrote: post #33
slo_news wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I'm unsure of the the reason the computers are lasting longer, I would bet this observation was originally triggered from the public company accounting firm that audits Alphabet's financials. The accounting firm likely asked Alphabet to prove out why they used a 3 year estimate and found out 4 years was more accurate (FYI 3 years is a standard useful life for computers for most companies - sometimes even shorte…

It doesn't work this way. If Alphabet wanted to prove they lasted three years, they would have found a way to prove it. Auditors don't go around challenging on things like this. In particular, they don't go around challenging companies on depreciation because that is a key lever that management can pull if they need to hit numbers. It is very difficult to discern exactly why they will have done this but the functiona…

Umm, intel flatlined basically on chip development. Chip shortages also hit the sector. And the long tail has gotten to point where folks keep systems in workloads even if "better" solutions exist - because existing systems are working fine. 4 years is not unreasonable (now). Once chip shortages ease and development picks up again at intel useful life may decrease again.

Re: Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

#97

Post by Diederich »

kgwgk wrote: post #83
theevilsharpie wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

0.5% of global GDP would be more reasonable, although a fraction is an odd way of writing it. It also doesn't tell us much other than Google and Facebook are large companies with significant earnings. You can probably provide a similar percentage for VW/Toyota, Boeing/Airbus, Walmart/Amazon, or any other pair of large companies that are the leaders in their respective markets. Indeed, if you lumped the entire Fortune…

Walmart on its own has more revenue than Google and Facebook combined.

Yup, WMT most recently reported $566B in revenue.

Re: Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

#98

Post by stathibus »

simfree wrote: post #60
lotsofpulp wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The price of the ads could be going up at a quicker rate, especially as more and more viewers from previous ad spending channels (such as TV channels) move to online options (such as Youtube). Also, the number of people using ad blockers must be extremely low. Even crazier, most people who I talk to about content blockers on iOS zone out of the conversation before I can even get to how easy it is. They do not even ca…

Sounds like a bad pitch then. Shorten it up, better not to overdo a sales pitch than to do too short a pitch. I don't pitch Signal, but when I do see it pitched those that are most successful pitch 1 directly useful feature as why you should install it. Eg: Get Signal, our videos won't look like a fuzzy potato lens image Remember, your reason should be a problem the person your pitching to has faced and would like to…

"Get Signal, it _probably_ won't send random pictures to your friends."

Re: Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

#99

Post by b9a2cab5 »

DenseComet wrote: post #13
dekhn wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a part of Chaos Monkey where the author describes driving past Google on a weekend and seeing empty parking lots while Facebook's were full (this was during Google Plus). He concluded that Google no longer had a fire in the belly and facebook was going to overcome it, not just in social mindshare, but ad revenue. Conditions changed.

Thats an insane conclusion imo. Weekend work being normalized leads to unhappier employees. Working longer also doesn't just mean more productivity, there's been many cases of four day work weeks causing no change. Employees are a company's most valuable resource. A company looking to grow and innovate must take care of its employees and part of it is respecting their time.

Try working 30 hours a week in a top research lab and then come back and say that. Research is one of the least code monkey things you can do (requires the most creativity) yet everyone is working 80-100 hour weeks.

4 day work weeks causing no change means those engineers weren't productive in the first place. Which, in my experience, is the case in a lot of FAANGMULA teams.

Re: Alphabet Third Quarter 2021 Results [pdf]

#100

Post by gitfan86 »

dragonwriter wrote: post #71
gitfan86 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

markets and moats matter. Anyone can get revenue selling tomatoes, the problem with tomato farming is that there is no moat, you will not be able to sell at a price much higher than the next farmer down the street. If there were 100 good search engines the price for advertising would be 90% lower

> If there were 100 good search engines the price for advertising would be 90% lower If there were 100 good search engines for end users, but opinions of different users on quality were highly correlated, the traffic would be very disproportionately on the one that was perceived as even very slightly better. And they’d make the bulk of the advertising dollars. And they’d have the bulk of the money to throw at improve…

You are describing 99 shitty search engines and 1 good one.
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