Google 2009 Annual Report Download - page 45

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Please find page 45 of the 2009 Google annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

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errors or vulnerabilities in our products and services, or damage to or failure of our systems, could result in
interruptions in our services, which could reduce our revenues and profits, and damage our brand.
Index spammers could harm the integrity of our web search results, which could damage our
reputation and cause our users to be dissatisfied with our products and services.
There is an ongoing and increasing effort by “index spammers” to develop ways to manipulate our web search
results. For example, because our web search technology ranks a web page’s relevance based in part on the
importance of the web sites that link to it, people have attempted to link a group of web sites together to
manipulate web search results. We take this problem very seriously because providing relevant information to
users is critical to our success. If our efforts to combat these and other types of index spamming are unsuccessful,
our reputation for delivering relevant information could be diminished. This could result in a decline in user traffic,
which would damage our business.
Our business and operations are experiencing rapid growth. If we fail to effectively manage our
growth, our business and operating results could be harmed.
We have experienced rapid growth in our headcount and operations, which has placed, and will continue to
place, significant demands on our management, operational, and financial infrastructure. If we do not effectively
manage our growth, the quality of our products and services could suffer, which could negatively affect our brand
and operating results. Our expansion and growth in international markets heighten these risks as a result of the
particular challenges of supporting a rapidly growing business in an environment of multiple languages, cultures,
customs, legal systems, alternative dispute systems, regulatory systems, and commercial infrastructures. To
effectively manage this growth, we will need to continue to improve our operational, financial and management
controls, and our reporting systems and procedures. These systems enhancements and improvements will require
significant capital expenditures and management resources. Failure to implement these improvements could hurt
our ability to manage our growth and our financial position.
We rely on our Google Network members for a significant portion of our revenues, and we benefit from
our association with them. The loss of these members could adversely affect our business.
We provide advertising, web search, and other services to our Google Network members, which accounted for
31% of our revenues in 2008 and 30% of our revenues in 2009. Some of the participants in this network may
compete with us in one or more areas. They may decide in the future to terminate their agreements with us. If our
Google Network members decide to use a competitor’s or their own web search or advertising services, our
revenues would decline. Our agreements with a few of the largest Google Network members account for a
significant portion of revenues derived from our AdSense program. If our relationship with one or more large
Google Network members were terminated or renegotiated on terms less favorable to us, our business could be
adversely affected.
Also, certain of our key Google Network members operate high-profile web sites, and we derive tangible and
intangible benefits from this affiliation. If one or more of these key relationships is terminated or not renewed, and
is not replaced with a comparable relationship, our business would be adversely affected.
If we were to lose the services of Eric, Larry, Sergey, or other members of our senior management
team, we may not be able to execute our business strategy.
Our future success depends in a large part upon the continued service of key members of our senior
management team. In particular, our CEO, Eric Schmidt, and our founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are critical
to the overall management of Google as well as the development of our technology, our culture, and our strategic
direction. All of our executive officers and key employees are at-will employees, and we do not maintain any
key-person life insurance policies. The loss of any of our management or key personnel could seriously harm our
business.
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