Google (NSDQ: GOOG) hauled a record $878 million from British advertisers between October and December – 4.5 percent more than in the previous three months.
But the overall contribution from the UK to Google fell from to 10 percent of its total revenue, down from 12 percent a year earlier.
And the true nature of Google’s British success is always skewed by currency fluctuations, and by a foreign exchange risk management programme Google uses to shield itself against such fluctuations. In the three months to December, the amount it saved from this was $25 million – compared with $8 million a year earlier.
Google took 52 percent of its revenue from non-U.S. markets – that’s $4.38 billion. Without the currency management programme, this would have been $201 million down on the previous three months, but $132 million than in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.