How big is Google’s growth engine?

Over the last year, we’ve been  telling the stories of our partners - the small businesses, creators and entrepreneurs who use Google products to help them to be more successful online. For them, Google is not just a search engine, but a growth engine that is powering their businesses. They tell us our tools help them connect with new customers, connect with global audiences and build the next great products. And while we’ve been focused on telling their stories, we asked Deloitte to calculate how big of an economic impact our tools have. They looked at four of our markets in Europe: Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. It turns out that our technology and tools are helping all kinds of businesses make a substantial economic contribution to these countries by generating revenue and supporting jobs across the economy. Deloitte’s studies looked at how businesses use our Search and advertising products to connect businesses with customers; how content creators leverage our tools to reach large audiences and monetise their content; how app developers use Android and the Play Store to connect to billions of consumers; and how our collaboration tools help to make Europeans more productive. The full reports give a detailed analysis of the impact of these products. One of the most interesting findings was the return on investment for businesses using AdWords - our Search advertising tool. Deloitte found that businesses receive between €3-€8 in gross advertising profits for every €1 they invest. “Today, every business is a digital business - because every customer is a digital customer,” said Matt Brittin, Google’s EMEA President. “And thanks to the digital revolution, every business can be a global business. We are proud of the role Google products play in helping businesses make the most of the digital opportunity.” The study highlights how businesses use our tools to bring in new customers and expand to new markets - whether that is across town, across the country or across the EU and beyond. These are businesses like ChipsAway, a car body repair specialist based in Oxfordshire. They use Google AdWords to target their marketing to a 15-mile radius of their location and have seen a 15-20% increase in business since they launched the campaign. Here are some of the key figures. The figures are reported as a range as the analyses use a range of inputs in its methodology.


Economic Impact of Search and AdWords
Jobs Supported by Search and AdWords
Economic Impact of Publisher Tool (AdSense)
Economic Impact of YouTube
Productivity Benefits
Germany
€7bn - €30bn
120,000 - 490,000
€480m - €560m
€30m - €80m
€65m - €151m
Italy
€2bn - €10bn
40,000 - 170,000
€207m - €214m
€30m - €40m
€64m - €123m
Spain
€2bn - €7bn
40,000 - 130,000
€105m - €300m
€10m - €30m
€43m - €103m
UK
€13.9bn - €34.7bn
210,000 - 530,000
€301m - €676m
€68m - €131m
€200m - €385m
We're proud that the Deloitte study confirms what we believed to be true: that our tools and services are bringing positive economic impact to all kinds of businesses and creators around Europe. Here you can find the full reports for Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Posted by Jon Steinberg, Public Policy Manager, EMEA