搜索引擎之外 谷歌是否再無亮點

SAN FRANCISCO — Google is still pulling in money hand over fist, but Wall Street is hungry for the company’s next act.

舊金山——谷歌(Google)的利潤還在大幅增長，但華爾街仍然迫切期待着它能推陳出新。

On a conference call with analysts on Thursday, after Google reported its third-quarter earnings, the questions came fast and furious: How will Google match Apple’s new payment system? Can YouTube topple television? Is Google serious about trying to challenge Amazon on same-day delivery?

週四在與分析師的電話會議上，當谷歌公佈了三季度財報之後，問題接踵而至：谷歌將如何與蘋果(Apple)新的支付系統競爭？YouTube能顛覆電視嗎？谷歌是否真的打算在“當日送達”業務上挑戰亞馬遜(Amazon)？

The problem was that in the earnings report, the Internet giant showed signs that its ultraprofitable business in search advertising was starting to slow.

問題在於，在這份財報中，這家互聯網巨頭呈現出了一些跡象，顯示利潤極其豐厚的搜索廣告業務已經開始放緩。

In almost every way, Google has become a victim of its own success. Its search engine remains dominant in desktop computers and mobile phones, and businesses like YouTube and the Google Play store are growing quickly. The company churns out billions in quarterly profit and has a $60 billion cash hoard.

幾乎從各個層面來講，谷歌的問題都源於自身的成功。它的搜索引擎仍然在臺式電腦和手機上占主導地位，YouTube和Google Play商店等業務也在迅速增長。公司的季度利潤達數十億美元，現金儲備則達到600億美元（約合3670億元人民幣）。

The thing that worries investors, though, is that the company’s golden goose — its search engine — is showing signs of age. Paid clicks on advertisements increased 17 percent in the third quarter compared with the same quarter last year. But in the second quarter, paid clicks were up 25 percent from a year earlier.

不過，令投資者感到擔憂的是，公司的搖錢樹——搜索引擎——正呈現出衰落的跡象。廣告的付費點擊數三季度同比增長了17%。而在二季度，付費點擊數的同比增幅則爲25%。

“Google’s core search business is the best Internet business model ever created,” said Jordan Rohan, founder of Clearmeadow Partners, a strategic advisory firm focused on Internet companies. “Every other business Google is in looks pedestrian by comparison.”

“谷歌的核心搜索業務是有史以來最好的互聯網商業模式，”專注於互聯網公司的戰略諮詢企業Clearmeadow Partners的創始人喬丹·羅恩(Jordan Rohan)說。“相比之下，谷歌的所有其他業務都顯得平淡無奇。”

Another concern for analysts is the cost per click, the average price the company is paid each time a user clicks on an ad. The cost-per-click measurement has fallen for several years as people spend more time on mobile phones, which have smaller screens and are harder to place ads on.

分析師的另一個擔憂是點擊費用，即廣告客戶爲用戶每次點擊廣告支付的平均價格。隨着人們把更多時間花在手機上，點擊費用這項指標連續幾年呈下降趨勢。手機的屏幕較小，因此更加難以投放廣告。

In the third quarter, the cost-per-click measure again fell, down 2 percent year over year and flat from the second quarter.

三季度的平均點擊費用再次下滑，同比降幅爲2%，與二季度持平。

Google executives grow annoyed with analysts’ fixation on clicks and cost per click. Mobile advertising is still pretty new, they point out. It accounts for about 11 percent of ad spending in the United States, according to the research firm eMarketer. Even mighty Google is trying to figure it out.

分析師們對點擊次數和平均點擊費用的問題揪住不放，這讓谷歌的高管們有些惱火。他們指出，移動廣告仍然是很新的業務。根據研究公司eMarketer的數據，移動廣告在美國的廣告支出中佔了約11%。即使是無所不能的谷歌也仍在摸索之中。

“I think we just need to keep innovating and experimenting here to get it right,” said Omid Kordestani, Google’s chief business officer.

“我認爲，我們只是需要不斷創新和嘗試，就能找到正確的方法，”谷歌的首席商務官奧米德·柯德斯塔尼(Omid Kordestani)說。

Google does not release figures for mobile ad revenue separately from desktop ad revenue, so it is hard to know exactly how Google is doing in this area.

谷歌不單獨公佈臺式電腦廣告營收之外的移動廣告營收，因此很難確切得知谷歌在這方面做得如何。

Mobile is likely to be one of Mr. Kordestani’s chief business problems. During the conference call, the company announced that Mr. Kordestani, a longtime Google executive who stepped into the role after the departure of Nikesh Arora for SoftBank, will be in the job permanently.

移動業務很可能是柯德斯塔尼需要面對的主要業務問題之一。在這次的電話會議上，谷歌宣佈，柯德斯塔尼正式接掌首席商務官一職。柯德斯塔尼是谷歌的資深高管，在尼克什·阿羅拉(Nikesh Arora)跳至軟銀(SoftBank)之後，接替了他的工作。

Despite its challenges, Google remains a fast-growing business. Third-quarter revenue increased 20 percent, to $16.5 billion.

儘管面臨着重重挑戰，谷歌仍是一家增長迅速的公司。三季度營收增長了20%，至165億美元。

And the company is making money in many new kinds of ways. Google reported that “other revenue,” a large portion of which is Google’s Play Store, increased 50 percent from the same quarter of last year, to $1.8 billion.

此外，谷歌還在通過許多新的途徑實現盈利。谷歌稱，“其他營收”——其中很大一部分來自谷歌的Play Store——同比增長了50%，至18億美元。

But research-and-development costs have soared, to $2.7 billion from $1.8 billion from the same quarter a year ago.

不過，公司的研發成本飆升，從去年同季度的18億美元增長到了27億美元。

“People are certainly concerned about the expenses,” said Ben Schachter, an analyst with Macquarie Securities. “Revenue growth is slowing while the company continues to hire a significant number of engineers. As long as the core business holds up, that’s fine, but if the core slows dramatically, that’s a problem.”

“人們毫無疑問會對成本感到擔憂，”麥格理證券(Macquarie Securities)的分析師本·沙克特(Ben Schachter)說。“營收增長正不斷放緩，與此同時，公司仍在僱傭大量工程師。只要核心業務保持良好態勢，就沒問題，但如果核心急劇放緩，那就有麻煩了。”

Net income in the third quarter was $2.8 billion, down from just under $3 billion last year. But excluding the cost of stock options and the related tax benefits, Google’s profit was $6.35 a share, compared with $5.63 in the third quarter of 2013.

三季度淨收入爲28億美元，低於去年同期的近30億美元。但在剔除股票期權的成本和相關稅收優惠之後，谷歌每股利潤爲6.35美元，相比之下，2013年三季度爲5.63美元。

Over all, the earnings were somewhat short of expectations. The stock closed on Thursday at $524.51, down 1 percent, and it was down about 2 percent in after-hours trading.

總的來說，這份財報和人們的預期多少有點差距。谷歌股價週四收於524.51美元，下跌了1%，盤後交易時段下跌了約2%。