If you’re curious about some of the financial numbers behind Google, look no further than this graphic from the website Masters In Finance. Surprisingly, while Google’s revenue in 2011 was $37.9 billion, it’s expenses were nearly $26.2 billion, only leaving a profit of about $9.7 billion. Not the steepest profit margin out there.
Image compliments of Masters in Finance Degree Guide
So what do we chalk the low profit margin up to?
Well, $8.81 billion goes towards paying their ad partners. That’s a big chunk.
Another $13.19 billion goes towards salaries, electricity costs, transaction fees, hardware depreciation, etc.
And then $5.16 billion goes towards research and development.
$4.59 billion towards sales and marketing
(there’s obviously some overlap in these expenses, but they give you a sense of where Google’s priorities are on the spend side).
It will be interesting to see what Google does in the coming years to increase their profit margins.
