By Brian Womack
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., owner of the world’s most popular search engine, generated $54 billion in U.S. economic activity in 2009 as businesses turned to online advertising amid the economic slowdown.
The Internet company helped generate revenue for advertisers, website publishers and nonprofit organizations, Google said in a report released today. For the first time, it broke down its economic impact in all 50 U.S. states, with California getting the biggest benefit at $14.1 billion.
“We make most of our revenue from the ads shown next to our search results, on our other websites and the websites of our partners,” the Mountain View, California-based company said in the report. “Through these ad programs, we help many others make a living, too”.
Google, which reported $23.7 billion in revenue last year, is looking for more customers amid competition from rivals such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. The Internet’s share of overall advertising spending is forecast to rise to 17 percent in 2012 from 13 percent last year, according to ZenithOptimedia, a London-based ad buyer owned by Publicis Groupe SA. Link
