Google 2008 Annual Report Download - page 34

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provide a link to the section of the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov that has all of our public filings. Our Quarterly
Reports, Annual Reports, and Proxy Statements for the last two years are also available for download free of
charge on our investor relations web site. Further, a copy of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is located at the
SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. Information on the operation of the
Public Reference Room can be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains an internet
site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding our filings at
www.sec.gov.
We webcast our earnings calls and certain events we participate in or host with members of the investment
community on our investor relations web site. Additionally, we provide notifications of news or announcements
regarding our financial performance, including SEC filings, investor events, press and earnings releases, and blogs
as part of our investor relations web site. The contents of these web sites are not intended to be incorporated by
reference into this report or in any other report or document we file and any reference to these web sites are
intended to be inactive textual references only.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
We face significant competition from Microsoft and Yahoo.
We face formidable competition in every aspect of our business, and particularly from other companies that
seek to connect people with information on the web and provide them with relevant advertising. Currently, we
consider our primary competitors to be Microsoft Corporation and Yahoo! Inc. Microsoft has developed features
that make web search a more integrated part of its Windows operating system and other desktop software
products. We expect that Microsoft will increasingly use its financial and engineering resources to compete with us.
Microsoft has more employees and cash resources than we do. Also, both Microsoft and Yahoo have longer
operating histories and more established relationships with customers and end users. They can use their
experience and resources against us in a variety of competitive ways, including by making acquisitions, investing
more aggressively in research and development and competing more aggressively for advertisers and web sites.
Microsoft and Yahoo also may have a greater ability to attract and retain users than we do because they operate
internet portals with a broad range of content products and services. If Microsoft or Yahoo is successful in
providing similar or better web search results or more relevant advertisements, or in leveraging their platforms or
products to make their web search or advertising services easier to access, we could experience a significant
decline in user traffic or the size of the Google Network. Any such decline could negatively affect our revenues.
We face competition across all geographic markets from other internet companies, including web
search providers, internet access providers, internet advertising companies, destination web sites, and
local information providers, and from traditional media companies.
In addition to Microsoft and Yahoo, we face competition from other web search providers, including start-ups
as well as developed companies that are enhancing or developing search technologies. We compete with internet
advertising companies, particularly in the areas of pay-for-performance and keyword-targeted internet
advertising. Also, we may compete with companies that sell products and services online because these
companies, like us, are trying to attract users to their web sites to search for information about products and
services. We also provide a number of online products and services, including Gmail, YouTube, and Google Docs,
that compete directly with new and established companies that offer communication, information, and
entertainment services integrated into their products or media properties.
We also compete with web sites that provide their own or user-generated content and provide advertising to
their users. These destination web sites include those operated by internet access providers, such as cable and
DSL service providers. Because our users need to access our services through internet access providers, they
have direct relationships with these providers. If an access provider or a computer or computing device
manufacturer offers online services that compete with ours, the user may find it more convenient to use the
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