Google_2014(谷歌2014年年报)
谷歌的发展历史

Google一、企业简介Google公司(中文译名:谷歌),是一家美国的跨国科技企业,致力于互联网搜索、云计算、广告技术等领域,开发并提供大量基于互联网的产品与服务,其主要利润来自于AdWords等广告服务。
谷歌的使命是整合全球信息,使人人皆可访问并从中受益。
谷歌是第一个被公认为全球最大的搜索引擎,在全球范围内拥有无数的用户。
二、企业发展1997年到1998年间,谷歌联合创始人拉里·佩奇和谢尔盖·布林在学生宿舍里共同开发了全新的在线搜索引擎,之后他们募集了100万美元,在美国加门罗帕克的一间车库内筹备公司。
成立数天后,公司注册了域名。
1999年6月7日,谷歌获得了两家风险投资公司的投资,一共是2500万美元,这成为谷歌发展的最重要的开始。
2000年,谷歌与雅虎公司达成合作协议,谷歌为雅虎提供搜索引擎服务,使得谷歌开始崭露头角。
在此之前,谷歌还未成为搜索行业的主流,当时的行业领头羊仍是雅虎。
2001年,谷歌的网页评级机制PageRank被授予了美国专利。
但在互联网激烈的竞争下,仅仅靠出售技术,没有其他盈利方式是远远不够的,于是埃克里·施密特被风投家介绍空降到谷歌,成为公司CEO。
谷歌开始了一个新的时代。
谷歌创新的推出了Adwords文字广告——在搜索结果右边附加相关广告,使得谷歌在保持主页简明朴素的同时又能增加广告收入,这是谷歌最核心最成功的赚钱方式。
2006年10月,谷歌公司以16.5亿美元,收购影音内容分享网站YouTube,是谷歌有史以来最大的并购。
2007年11月05日,谷歌宣布基于Linux平台的开源手机操作系统的名称为android。
2008年9月7日,Google Map卫星升空,将为Google Earth提供50厘米分辨率高清照片。
同年,谷歌与金融集团汇丰银行(HSBC)以及国际有线电视集团Liberty Global组成名为“O3b Networks”的网络计划,通过发射16颗卫星将网络服务带入地球上还未连上网络的地区,取名为O3b就是指地球上另外未有网络建设的30亿人口,希望借这样的网络计划工程,真正建立在地球上任何区域皆有连网能力的环境。
google网上产品服务分析

优势
网上产品服务多
劣势
新兴海外市场的本土化程度不高,例如北京时间2010 年3月23日凌晨3时零3分宣布停止对谷歌中国搜索服务的 “过滤审查”,并将搜索服务由中国内地转至香港。
挑战
在PC互联网时代,搜索广告给谷 歌贡献了不菲的收入,但是在智能手 机上,人们使用网站和网页搜索的频 率下降。由于付费搜索业务主要建立 在桌面浏览器模式基础上,而消费者 日益转投向移动模式。在移动设备上, 消费者不像过去那样更多使用搜索功 能,因为他们有各种应用可满足具体 需求。他们可能依然会在这些应用之 中进行搜索,但不会在传统搜索引擎 上进行太多搜索。
优势
Google 的搜索引擎同时也分析网页内容。然而,Google 的技术并不采用单纯扫描基于网页的文本(网站发布商可以通 过元标记控制这类文本)的方式,而是分析网页的全部内容以 及字体、分区及每个文字精确位置等因素。Google 同时还会 分析相邻网页的内容,以确保返回与用户查询最相关的结果。
优势
Google允许以多种语言进行搜索,在操作界面中提 供多达30余种语言选择。
2
谷歌网络市场的获利
WHY?
2014年谷歌广告收入 占其总收入的90%
优势
PageRank
技术
搜索 技术
超文本匹配 分析
优势
网站的PR值(全称为PageRank),是google搜索排名算 法中的一个组成部分,级别从1到10级,10级为满分,重要 网页获得的 PageRank(网页排名)较高,从而显示在搜索结 果的顶部。最重要的是搜索结果没有人工干预或操纵。因此 广受用户信赖、不受付费排名影响且公正客观。
分布式基础设施
核心搜索 引擎技术
分布式大规模数据处理
8D报告案例分析2014

8D报告案例分析20142014年: 一个智能科技浪潮的起点回顾过去的科技进展,2014年被视为一个重要的节点,因为它是人工智能领域取得突破性进展的一年。
在这一年,我们见证了人工智能的应用开始逐渐深入到我们生活的方方面面,以及改变着我们的生活。
2014年,无疑是人工智能技术发展中的重要时刻。
当时,谷歌(Google)发布了其领先的AI系统AlphaGo。
在之后进行的围棋比赛中,AlphaGo战胜了韩国围棋大师李世石,引起了全球范围内的轩然大波。
这次事件不仅展示了人工智能的强大能力,还引发了公众对于人工智能的浓厚兴趣和关注。
当然,AlphaGo的成功只是2014年人工智能技术取得的一个重要进展。
除此之外,这一年还发生了其他许多引人注目的事件。
例如,世界上第一辆真正自动驾驶汽车商业化投入市场,由Google的子公司Waymo开发的这一技术的出现,让我们看到了自动驾驶汽车可能带来的未来改变。
除了在科技领域中的突破外,在其他行业中也出现了人工智能的应用案例。
例如,在医疗保健领域,IBM的人工智能系统Watson开始被应用于癌症诊断和治疗方案的制定。
这一技术的出现,为医疗行业提供了一种全新的方法,从而为患者们带来更加精确和个性化的治疗方案。
除了医疗领域,人工智能的应用还扩展到了金融、教育、农业等各个行业。
在金融领域,机器学习和自然语言处理等技术被用于风险评估和交易分析。
在教育领域,人工智能开始被应用于个性化教育和学习辅助等方面。
在农业领域,人工智能技术被应用于农作物管理和精确农业等领域,提高了农作物的产量和质量。
2014年,人工智能技术的发展也引起了许多讨论和争议。
人们开始思考,人工智能到底能为我们带来什么?同时,人们也开始担心人工智能的发展可能带来的负面影响。
例如,人们担心自动化可能导致大规模的失业。
此外,关于数据安全和隐私保护的问题也引起了人们的担忧。
然而,无论人们对于人工智能的看法是积极还是消极,2014年仍然被视为一个具有里程碑意义的年份,这是人工智能技术发展的一个重要转折点。
谷歌(Google)案例分析_战略管理

二、GOOGLE 的创新基因
Company Logo
“你所想象到的任何事都有可能是可行的,”佩奇在2012年对谷歌投资者说,“你 只需要想象,然后为此努力。” 拉里·佩奇 Larry Page
Sergey Brin为Google的员工制定了一条不成文的规定:工程师必须用1/4的时间 来思考了不起的点子,即使这些点子可能对公司的财务前景不利。谢尔盖·布林
Google Chrome
战略选择
公司层战略
Company Logo
文化管理
Google 主张开放自由、民主的企业文化。它的文 化委员会,在督导文化推广的同时,也倡导一些活动主题, 由员工来组织相应的活动。员工拥有更多的主动权,参与 的兴趣也会更加浓厚。
战略选择
Company Logo
时间管理——弹性工作制
Google提倡的弹性工作制不同于其他企业, Google充分相信员工,把工作时间的掌控权交由员工, 有员工根据自己的喜好自由安排时间。
战略选择
Company Logo
自由项目管理——20%
Google鼓励员工用20%的工作时间去做自己想做 的事情,员工不但有自己掌控的时间,甚至可以决 定自己做什么项目,完成一个项目之后,他便可以 和项目主管提出申请,选择自己感兴趣的项目。
广告投入
创造信息平台 (搜索引擎)+
客户群
谷歌和商 家提供
增值服务
Google 信息平台
Google 战略与商业模式的关系—商业模式
Company Logo
4G/3G手机 崛起
电 脑
网
络
互联网的商业模式:
聚焦战略及案例

QUESTIONS!
请结合苹果公司的聚焦战略的成功
运营,为国内发展聚焦战略的企业
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请在此处输入您的标题
明确企业的 核心业务
结合产品定 位进行产品 升级
组织完 善 明确定 位
公司应开展至上而 下的产品聚焦战略 管理方案和思想的 灌输,确保战略的 实施
市场深 耕 产品升 级
发掘公司的渠 道优势,保持 并扩大市场 份额
21世纪伊始,苹果公司便确立了以用户为中心的“数码中枢”聚焦战 略;
2001年开始,苹果公司就在年报里陈述了其“数字中枢”的商业战 略 2001年时,基于个人数码设备的发展将会迎来新纪元的预测,苹果 公司锁定个人电脑自然将会成为数码中枢设备 作为唯一一家设计并制造个人电脑整机的公司,苹果公司的创新性 工业设计、直观易用、嵌入式网路、图形多媒体能力都保证了其在业 界独有的地位
2007年1月,苹果电脑公司更名为苹果公司,融合消费 电子产品成为苹果聚焦战略中的重点,“数码中枢”的 定位拓展为“数码生活”
2004年7月,经iTune音乐商店售出的音乐单曲数量过亿; 而同年8月,苹果公司宣布iPod已占有美国数码音乐播放 器58%的市场
2007年,苹果公司进军手机市场,再次成就了一款明星 级便携数码产品:iPhone 经过两年内的几次软硬件升级,iPhone 3GS已经可以 媲美个人电脑的基本运算功能、同时丰富的娱乐功能加上 便携性,使其成为数码生活的核心产品 发展至今,iPhone6及iphine6 plus已成为引领时尚的潮 流
如果采用 聚 焦 战略的公司要实现差别化,则可以运用所有差别化的方
法去达到预期的目的,与差别化战略不同的是,采用 聚 焦 战略的公司 是在特定的目标市场中与实行差别化战略的公司进行竞争,而不在其 他细分市场上与其竞争对手竞争。
谷歌在中国的发展历程

part 4
part3 谷歌退出中国之原因分析
part 1 原因二:
政策法规不同,让谷歌无法适从
part 2
part 3
互联网不是卖技术和产品,卖的是本土化和用户 习惯。而本土化是互联网公司成功的关键,卓越 亚马逊无法对抗淘宝、facebook在中国没戏,反 而QQ和新浪微博大行其道,这就是本土化的力 量。 作为外来者,谷歌很难认清中国政策,难以把握 中国政策的变化,所以总是在触碰高压线。
part 2
part 3
part 4
原因之一:2000年谷 歌中文搜索刚上线时, 出现一个严重的技术 性问题:“分词”, 中文搜索质量不佳, 例如搜索“电脑” 左侧出现的是关于电 话,右侧出现的是关 于脑白金 例如一篇文章中有 “清华大学”,如搜 素“清华”,文章就 出不来
part2 谷歌中国行之快速发展阶段
part 2
part 3
据艾瑞中国的另一份调查显示,2007年第一季度,有 21.2%的用户最常使用谷歌搜索引擎。该数据比去年第四 季度增长了1.5个百分点。反映了谷歌影响力的提升
part 4
part2 谷歌中国行之黯然离去阶段
part 1 2009年6月18日,中国互联网违法和不良 信息举报中心在官方网站上以红色标题 曝光称,谷歌中国网站存在大量淫秽色 情和低俗链接,并“强烈谴责”谷歌传 播淫秽色情和低俗信息;2009年9月4日 谷歌大中华区总裁李开复正式宣布离职。 2010年,谷歌撤出中国市场的谣言四起, 其发展又开始处于艰难的阶段。到了 2011年,其市场占有率已大为下跌,据 统计,截至2011年12月10日,谷歌中国 搜索引擎的市场占有率降低到了10.29%, 如图所示
part 4 小组观点
2014在线教育行业分析报告(凤凰网)

2014在线教育行业分析报告凤凰在线教育实验室第一部分中国在线教育行业现状及特点一、在线教育发展历程在线教育是互联网技术与传统教育的结合,相比传统教育,在线教育的优势主要在于:1、突破时空限制,知识获取方式更为灵活;2、碎片化学习,尤其随着移动互联网的发展,移动设备更具便携性;3、内容多样化,除了K12教育(指幼儿园到高中的基础教育)、高等教育外,还包括各类学前教育、职业教育、兴趣教育等细分领域。
从发展历程来看,在线教育经历了从远程教育平台、培训机构转战线上、到目前的互联网公司涉足在线教育三个阶段。
在这一发展过程中,在线教育的形式和内容越来越多样化,便利程度也不断提高,越来越多的消费者开始乐意尝试这种新型学习方式。
据调查显示,通过网络进行学历教育、职业技能培训、专业认证考试培训的需求十分旺盛。
二、国内在线教育现状1、国内在线教育发展空间(1)我国学龄人口数量庞大目前,我国是世界上人口最多的国家,2013年人口数量达到13.5亿,其中,5-24岁的学龄人口约3.3亿,占人口总量的24.5%。
(2)我国教育消费比重大据《2013年中国家庭教育消费白皮书》调查显示,“教育消费”作为家庭消费的重头,占到中国社会中坚阶层家庭收入的1/5,并且该比例预期还将持续增长,预计2011-2013年中国家庭教育支出有望达到8000亿至1万亿元。
(3)职教培训需求旺盛据《2012年行业白皮书》数据显示,通过网络进行学历教育、职业技能培训、专业认证考试培训的需求十分旺盛。
31.7%的职场白领表示因工作瓶颈参加职业教育培训,期望通过再学习充实自己,且每年在职业培训方面投入8000元以上的占比25%,投入5000至8000元的达31%。
在计划通过网络视频学习人群的构成中,在职人员占比超过一半,达到57%。
因此,我们认为,职教培训成为教育需求增长的又一大动力。
(4)我国网民规模巨大2013年,我国网民规模为6.04亿,互联网普及率已达45%,而在40岁以下接受教育的主体人群中,这一普及率更高。
第3章 大数据的商业规则

9
大数据导论
3.1 大数据的跨界年度
商业社交网站领英(LinkedIn) 则使用大数据为求职者和招聘单位之间建立关联。有 了领英,猎头公司就不再需要对潜在雇员进行意外访问。只需一个简单的搜索,他们 就可以找到潜在雇员,并与他们进行联系。同样,求职者也可以通过联系网站上的其 他人,将自己推销给潜在的负责招聘的经理。领英的首席执行官杰夫•韦纳曾谈到该网 站的未来发展及其经济图表——一个能实时识别“经济机会趋势”的全球经济数字图 表。实现该图表及其预测能力时所面临的挑战就是一个大数据问题。
6
大数据导论
【导读案例】大数据企业的缩影——谷歌
除了存储搜索结果中出现的网站链接外,谷歌还存储人们的所有搜索行为,这就使
谷歌能以惊人的洞察力掌握搜索行为的时间、内容以及它们是如何进行的。这些对
数据的洞察力意味着谷歌可以优化其广告,使之从网络流量中获益,这是其他公司 所不能企及的。另外,谷歌不仅可以追踪人的行为,还可以预测人们接下来会采取 怎样的行动。换句话说,在你行动之前,谷歌就已经知道你在寻找什么了。这种对 大量的人机数据进行捕捉、存储和分析,并根据这些数据做出预测的能力,就是我 们所说的大数据。
分析者预测,截至2015年,亚马逊营收将超过1 000亿美元,即将超过沃尔玛,成
为世界最大的零售商。如同谷歌一样,亚马逊也要处理海量数据,只不过它处理 的数据带有更强的电商倾向。每次,当消费者们在亚马逊网站上搜索想看的电视
节目或想买的产品时,亚马逊就会增加对该消费者的了解。基于消费者的搜索行
为和产品购买行为,亚马逊就可以知道接下来应该为消费者推荐什么产品。
3
大数据导论
【导读案例】大数据企业的缩影——谷歌
图3-1 Google(谷歌)总部
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UNITED STATESSECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSIONWashington, D.C. 20549FORM 10-K(Mark One)ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014ORTRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934Commission file number: 001-36380Google Inc.(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)Delaware77-0493581(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)(I.R.S. EmployerIdentification No.) 1600 Amphitheatre ParkwayMountain View, CA 94043(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)(650) 253-0000(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)___________________________________________Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:Title of each class Name of each exchange on which registered Class A Common Stock, $0.001 par value Nasdaq Stock Market LLC(Nasdaq Global Select Market) Class C Capital Stock, $0.001 par value Nasdaq Stock Market LLC(Nasdaq Global Select Market)Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:Title of each classClass B Common Stock, $0.001 par valueIndicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes NoIndicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes NoIndicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes NoIndicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T(§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes NoIndicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitiveproxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer Non-accelerated filer Smaller reporting companyIndicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes NoAs of June 30, 2014, the aggregate market value of shares held by non-affiliates of the registrant (based upon the closing sale prices of such shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on June 30, 2014) was approximately $290.0 billion.As of January 29, 2015, there were 286,938,352 shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock outstanding, 53,018,898 shares of the registrant’s Class B common stock outstanding, and 340,665,532 shares of the registrant’s Class C capital stock outstanding.____________________________________________________________________DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCEPortions of the registrant’s Proxy Statement for the 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated herein by reference in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to the extent stated herein. Such proxy statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2014.Google Inc.Form 10-KFor the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014TABLE OF CONTENTSPage PART IItem 1.Item 1A.Item 1B.Item 2.Item 3.Item 4.PART IIItem 5.Item 6.Item 7.Item 7A.Item 8.Item 9.Item 9A.Item 9B.PART IIIItem 10.Item 11.Item 12.Item 13.Item 14.PART IV Item 15.Note About Forward-Looking Statements 1Business 3Risk Factors 6Unresolved Staff Comments 18Properties 18Legal Proceedings 19Mine Safety Disclosures 19Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 19Selected Financial Data 21Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 22Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 39Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 41Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 83Controls and Procedures 83Other Information 84Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 84Executive Compensation 84Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters 84Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence 84Principal Accounting Fees and Services 84Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules85NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSThis Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, among other things, statements regarding:• the growth of our business and revenues and our expectations about the factors that influence our success and trends in our business;• our plans to continue to invest in new businesses, products and technologies, systems, facilities, and infrastructure, to continue to hire aggressively and provide competitive compensation programs, aswell as to continue to invest in acquisitions;• seasonal fluctuations in internet usage and advertiser expenditures, traditional retail seasonality and macroeconomic conditions, which are likely to cause fluctuations in our quarterly results;• the potential for declines in our revenue growth rate;• our expectation that growth in advertising revenues from our websites will continue to exceed that from our Google Network Members’ websites, which will have a positive impact on our operatingmargins;• our expectation that we will continue to take steps to improve the relevance of the ads we deliver and to reduce the number of accidental clicks;• fluctuations in aggregate paid clicks and average cost-per-click;• our belief that our foreign exchange risk management program will not fully offset our net exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;• the expected increase of costs related to hedging activities under our foreign exchange risk management program;• our expectation that our cost of revenues, research and development expenses, sales and marketing expenses, and general and administrative expenses will increase in dollars and may increase as apercentage of revenues;• our potential exposure in connection with pending investigations, proceedings, and other contingencies;• our expectation that our traffic acquisition costs will fluctuate in the future;• our continued investments in international markets;• estimates of our future compensation expenses;• fluctuations in our effective tax rate;• the sufficiency of our sources of funding;• our payment terms to certain advertisers, which may increase our working capital requirements;• fluctuations in our capital expenditures;• our expectations regarding the trading price of our Class A common stock and Class C capital stock; as well as other statements regarding our future operations, financial condition and prospects, and business strategies. Forward-looking statements may appear throughout this report, including without limitation, the following sections: Item 1 “Business,” Item 1A “Risk Factors,” and Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by words such as “anticipates,”“believes,”“estimates,”“expects,”“intends,”“plans,”“predicts,”“projects,”“will be,”“will continue,”“will likely result,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and in particular, the risks discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Item1A of this report and those discussed in other documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). We undertake no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.As used herein, “Google,”“we,”“our,” and similar terms include Google Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.“Google” and other trademarks of ours appearing in this report are our property. This report contains additional trade names and trademarks of other companies. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trade namesor trademarks to imply an endorsement or sponsorship of us by such companies, or any relationship with any of these companies.PART IITEM 1.BUSINESSOverviewOur founders started Google because they share a profound sense of optimism about the potential for technology to create a positive impact in the world. As Larry and Sergey explained in their first letter to shareholders, our goal is to: “... develop services that significantly improve the lives of as many people as possible.”In many ways, Google itself began with a series of questions: What if we could download and index the entire web? What if we could organize all the world’s information? And then we went out and searched for the answers.We know we’ve found the right answers when they pass what we call the "toothbrush test," whether this product will be used by hundreds of millions of people everyday, hopefully twice a day.We are proud of everything we have managed to do. Our innovations in search and advertising have made our website widely used and our brand one of the most recognized in the world. We generate revenues primarily by delivering online advertising that consumers find relevant and that advertisers find cost-effective.We were incorporated in California in September 1998 and reincorporated in Delaware in August 2003. We provide our products and services in more than 100 languages and in more than 50 countries, regions, and territories. Additional information on our financial performance by geographic areas can be found in Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.Serving Our UsersIn many ways search -- and the clean white page with the blinking cursor -- is a metaphor for how we think about innovation at Google. Imagining the ways things could be -- without constraint -- is the process we use to look for better answers to some of life’s everyday problems. It’s about starting with the "What if?" and then working relentlessly to see if we can find the answer.It’s been that way from the beginning; providing ways to access knowledge and information has been core to Google and our products have come a long way in the last decade. We used to show just ten blue links in our results. You had to click through to different websites to get your answers, which took time. Now we are increasingly able to provide direct answers -- even if you’re speaking your question using Voice Search -- which makes it quicker, easier and more natural to find what you’re looking for.Over time, we have added other services that let you access information quickly and easily. What if we could develop a smarter email service with plenty of storage? That’s Gmail. What if we could make a simpler, speedier, safer browser? That’s Chrome. What if we could provide easy access to movies, books, music and apps, no matter which device you’re on? That’s Google Play.As devices proliferate, it’s more and more important to ensure that you can navigate effortlessly across them -- that the technology gets out of the way, so you can move through this multi-screen world as easily as possible. It’s why we’re investing so much in platforms like our Chrome browser and our Android mobile operating system. Ultimately, we want you to have speedy, secure access to whatever you need, wherever you happen to be, and on whatever device you may be using at the time.Ads as AnswersWe asked, what if ads weren't intrusive and annoying? What if we could deliver a relevant ad at just the right time and give people useful commercial information? What if we could provide products that allow for better attribution and measurement across screens so that we show great ads for the right people?Our advertising solutions help millions of companies grow their businesses, and we offer a wide range of products across screens and devices. We generate revenues primarily by delivering both performance advertising and brand advertising.• Performance advertising creates and delivers relevant ads that users will click, leading to direct engagement with advertisers. Most of our performance advertisers pay us on a cost-per-engagement basis, like when a user engages in their ads. Performance advertising lets our advertisers connect with users while driving measurable results.For performance advertisers, AdWords, our primary auction-based advertising program, helps create simple text-based ads that appear on Google websites and the websites of Google Network Members, whouse our advertising programs to deliver relevant ads alongside their search results and content. In addition, the partners that comprise the Google Network use our AdSense program to deliver relevant ads that generate revenues and enhance the user experience. These programs let both small and large businesses connect with users looking for a specific item, say a pair of shoes or a plane ticket back home. To that end, we continue to invest in our advertising programs and to make significant upgrades, including Enhanced Campaigns, which helps advertisers more easily create advertising and marketing campaigns that run across multiple devices, and Estimated Total Conversions, which help advertisers measure the effectiveness of their campaigns in a multi-screen world.• Brand advertising helps enhance users’ awareness of and affinity with advertisers’ products and services, through videos, text, images, and other interactive ads that run across various devices. We help brand advertisers deliver digital videos and other types of ads to specific audiences for their brand-building marketing campaigns and in turn, generate revenue by distributing their ads such as the TrueView ads displayed on our YouTube videos.We have built a world-class ad technology platform for brand advertisers, agencies, and publishers to power their digital marketing businesses across display, mobile, and video. We aim to ensure great user experiences by serving the right ads at the right time and by building deep partnerships with brands and agencies. We also seek to improve the measurability of the effectiveness of brand advertising.In addition, we have allocated substantial resources to stopping bad advertising practices and protecting users on the web. Our efforts to focus on our users to ensure the best advertising experiences range from removing hundreds of millions of bad ads from our systems every year to closely monitoring the sites and apps that show our ads and blacklisting them when necessary to ensure that our ads do not fund bad content.Bringing the Next 5 Billion OnlineFast search and high-quality ads matter only if you have access to the Internet. Right now, only a fraction of the seven billion people in the world are fortunate enough to be able to get online. That leaves out billions of people. With so much useful and life-changing information available today, it is unfortunate that such a significant portion of the world’s population lacks even the most basic Internet connection.That’s why we’re investing in new projects, like Project Loon. We asked, what if we could use a network of balloons that could fly at the edge of space and provide connectivity in rural and remote areas? Loon has helped students in Brazil and farmers in New Zealand experience the power of an internet connection for the first time. And as the program expands, we hope to bring this to more and more people -- creating opportunities that simply did not exist before for millions of people, all around the world.Those people will be able to learn and start businesses, to grow and prosper in ways they simply could not without an Internet connection. Creating platforms for other people’s success is a huge part of who we are. W e want the world to join us online and to be greeted with the best possible experience once they get there. Connection is powerful; and we are working hard to make that promise a reality. The opportunities to improve lives on a grand scale are endless. And there are people around the world whose lives we can improve every day by bringing information into their homes, into their schools, and into their pockets -- showing them just how powerful the simple idea of “getting online” can be.MoonshotsThe idea of trying new things is reflected in some of our new, ambitious projects. Everything might not fit into a neat little box. We believe that is exactly how to stay relevant. Many companies get comfortable doing what they have always done, making a few incremental changes. This incrementalism leads to irrelevance over time, especially in technology, where change tends to be revolutionary, not evolutionary. People thought we were crazy when we acquired YouTube and Android, and when we launched Chrome. But as those efforts have matured into major platforms for digital video and mobile devices, and a safer, popular browser, respectively, we continue to look towards the future and continue to invest for the long-term.We won’t become complacent, relying solely on small tweaks as the years wear on. As we said in the 2004 Founders’ IPO Letter, we will not shy away from high-risk, high-reward projects because we believe they are the key to our long-term success. We won’t stop asking “What if?” and then working hard to find the answer.ResearchWe continue to invest in our existing products and services, including search and advertising, as well as developing new products and services through research and product development. We often release early-stage products. We then use data and user feedback to decide if and how to invest further in those products.Our research and development expenses were $6.1 billion, $7.1 billion, and $9.8 billion in 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively, which included stock-based compensation expense of $1.3 billion, $1.6 billion, and $2.2 billion, respectively. We expect to continue investing in hiring talented employees and building systems to develop new services and improve existing ones.CompetitionOur business is characterized by rapid change as well as new and disruptive technologies. We face formidable competition in every aspect of our business, particularly from companies that seek to connect people with online information and provide them with relevant advertising. We face competition from:• General purpose search engines and information services, such as Yahoo, Microsoft’s Bing, Yandex, Baidu, Naver, WebCrawler, and MyWebSearch.• Vertical search engines and e-commerce websites, such as Kayak (travel queries), LinkedIn (job queries), WebMD (health queries), and Amazon and eBay (e-commerce). Some users will navigate directly to such content, websites, and apps rather than go through Google.• Social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. Some users are increasingly relying on social networks for product or service referrals, rather than seeking information through traditional search engines.• Other forms of advertising, such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, and yellow pages, for ad dollars. Our advertisers typically advertise in multiple media, both online and offline.• Other online advertising platforms and networks, including Criteo, AppNexus, and Facebook, that compete for advertisers with AdWords, our primary auction-based advertising program.• Other operating systems and mobile device companies.• Providers of online products and services that provide answers, information, and services. A number of our online products and services, including Gmail, YouTube, and Google Docs, compete directly with new and established companies, which offer communication, information, storage and entertainment services, either on a stand-alone basis or integrated into other offerings.Competing successfully depends heavily on our ability to rapidly deliver innovative products and technologies to the marketplace so that we can attract and retain:• Users, for whom other products and services are literally one click away, primarily on the basis of the relevance and usefulness of our search results and the features, availability, and ease of use of our products and services.• Advertisers, primarily based on our ability to generate sales leads, and ultimately customers, and to deliver their advertisements in an efficient and effective manner.• Content providers (Google Network Members, the parties who use our advertising programs to deliver relevant ads alongside their search results and content, as well as other content providers for whom we distribute or license content), primarily based on the quality of our advertiser base, our ability to help these partners generate revenues from advertising, and the terms of our agreements with them.Intellectual PropertyWe rely on various intellectual property laws, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary technology and our brand. We have registered, and applied for the registration of, U.S. and international trademarks, service marks, domain names and copyrights. We have also filed patent applications in the US and foreign countries covering certain of our technology, and acquired patent assets to supplement our portfolio. We have licensed in the past, and expect that we may license in the future, certain of our rights to other parties.Culture and EmployeesWe take great pride in our culture. We embrace collaboration and creativity, and encourage the iteration of ideas to address complex technical challenges. Transparency and open dialogue are central to how we work, and we like to ensure that company news reaches our employees first through internal channels.Despite our rapid growth, we still cherish our roots as a startup and wherever possible empower employees to act on great ideas regardless of their role or function within the company. We strive to hire great employees, with backgrounds and perspectives as diverse as those of our global users. We work to provide an environment where these talented people can have fulfilling careers addressing some of the biggest challenges in technology and society.Our employees are among our best assets and are critical for our continued success. We expect to continue investing in hiring talented employees and to provide competitive compensation programs to our employees. As of December 31, 2014, we had 53,600 full-time employees: 20,832 in research and development, 17,621 in sales and marketing, 7,510 in general and administrative functions, and 7,637 in operations. Although we have work councils and statutory employee representation obligations in certain countries, our U.S. employees are not represented by alabor union. Competition for qualified personnel in our industry is intense, particularly for software engineers, computer scientists, and other technical staff.SeasonalityOur business is affected by both seasonal fluctuations in Internet usage and traditional retail seasonality. Internet usage generally slows during the summer months, and commercial queries typically increase significantly in the fourth quarter of each year.Available InformationOur website is located at , and our investor relations website is located at http:// . Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and our Proxy Statements are available through our investor relations website, free of charge, after we file them with the SEC. We also provide a link to the section of the SEC’s website at that has all of the reports that we file or furnish with the SEC. You may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. You can get information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.We webcast via our investor relations website our earnings calls and certain events we participate in or host with members of the investment community. Our investor relations website and Google+ page (https:/// +GoogleInvestorRelations/posts) also provide notifications of news or announcements regarding our financial performance, including SEC filings, investor events, press and earnings releases, and blogs. You can receive notifications of new information posted on our investor relations website in real time by signing up for email alerts and RSS feeds. Further corporate governance information, including our certificate of incorporation, bylaws, governance guidelines, board committee charters, and code of conduct, is also available on our investor relations website under the heading “Corporate Governance.” The content of our websites are not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.ITEM 1A.RISK FACTORSOur operations and financial results are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described below, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and the trading price of our common and capital stock.Risks Related to Our Business and IndustryWe face intense competition. If we do not continue to innovate and provide products and services that are useful to users, we may not remain competitive, and our revenues and operating results could be adversely affected.Our business is rapidly evolving, intensely competitive, and is subject to changing technologies, shifting user needs, and frequent introductions of new products and services. Competing successfully depends heavily on our ability to rapidly deliver innovative products and technologies to the marketplace and provide products and services that make our search results and ads relevant and useful for our users. As our business has evolved, the competitive pressure to innovate will now encompass a wider range of products and services, including products and services that may be outside of our historical core business.We have many competitors in different industries, including general purpose search engines and information services, vertical search engines and e-commerce websites, social networks, providers of online products and services, other forms of advertising and online advertising platforms and networks, other operating systems, and wireless mobile device companies. Our current and potential domestic and international competitors range from large and established companies to emerging start-ups. Established companies have longer operating histories and more established relationships with customers and users, and they can use their experience and resources in ways that could affect our competitive position, including by making acquisitions, continuing to invest heavily in research and development, aggressively initiating intellectual property claims (whether or not meritorious), and continuing to compete aggressively for advertisers and websites. Emerging start-ups may be able to innovate and provide products and services faster than we can or may foresee the consumer need for products and services before us.。