Michael Strachan’s Post

Google Cloud bested Wall Street expectations by generating over $9.1 billion in revenue in Q4 2023, reporting its most profitable quarter in company history and accounting for nearly 11 percent of Google’s $86 billion in total revenue. From sales growth and profitability to AI momentum, here are five key takeaways from Google Cloud’s Q4 2023 financial earnings results this week: #generativeAI

We did it! TRKKN just hit a major milestone—we've earned our first Google Cloud Specialization in Marketing Analytics, and we couldn’t be more thrilled! Massive congratulations to our Cloud team, who poured their hearts and souls into preparing for this assessment over the past weeks and months. You all absolutely nailed it! This isn’t just any Specialization; it’s a testament to the dedication, expertise, and track record of success that our team brings to the table. It’s proof positive that we’re not just in the business of delivering solutions; we're driven by a strong passion for making a difference with every project we undertake. And most importantly, it showcases our commitment to the spirit of “One Google”—the powerful synergy between Google Marketing Platform and Google Cloud services. Becoming specialized in Marketing Analytics is a game-changer. It means we're equipped to help our clients deliver seamless experiences, make informed decisions, and unlock the full potential of AI/ML across both the Google Cloud and Google Marketing Platform ecosystems. But none of this would have been possible without the effort and dedication of our Cloud team. We want to thank each and every one of you. You’re making the difference! Dr. Niousha Taherzadeh Jana Prahl Christian Dommers Gregor Kondla Oliver Vieregge Rabie Benali Dominik Götting Let’s celebrate this incredible achievement together and spread some Cloud love ❤️💙💚💛 #analytics #data #thankyou #appreciation #googlecloud #trkknfamily

🧐 Have you been wondering why GA4 seems worse than Universal Analytics? Did Google run out of smart people or money? Not at all. The shift is strategic—Google aims to boost cloud revenue, competing with Amazon and Microsoft. 🔍 Here’s what you need to know: 1️⃣ GA4 Interface: Don't expect the GA4 interface to improve significantly. Google is focusing its development efforts elsewhere. 2️⃣ BigQuery Integration: Move your data to BigQuery. This allows for better processing, more insightful visualizations, and the ability to answer complex business questions. Integrate data from GA4, Google Ads, and Search Console. 3️⃣ Looker Studio Reporting: Start building your reports in Looker Studio. It’s where Google is investing in feature development. If you don’t have a dashboarding tool, this is the time to set one up. 💬 Need help? We’re here to assist and love discussing data strategies. #GA4 #BigQuery #LookerStudio #DataAnalytics #MarketingInsights #CloudStrategy

Some exciting things coming out of google cloud next. My favorite was the ability to use the GCP stack to create discrete solutions to real problems for our customers. For example, lead generation and nurturing is always an area that can generate more ROÍ. It was interesting to see how L’Oreal and Google cowrote an entire marketing stack that colllects data from google analytics, ad platforms, and 3rd party monitoring, pulled it into BigQuery, then through a combination of Looker, Vertex AI, Gemini, created an operational flow that analyzed data, wrote copy, and connected with marketing platforms to send campaigns out - finally fed all the data back in to monitor and analyze campaign efficiency. The cool things were: 1. Any client could modify the stack specific to their use cases 2. Depending on the amount of data, this setup could cost less than $100 / mo for a POC 3. It’s all open APIs, so can plug into any existing marketing stack. 4. Google released the entire stack on an open GitHub repository:-) #googlecloudnext #next24 #innovation

Google’s Q4 Earnings Reveal AI’s Growing Role In Search Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announced its financial results for Q4 and the full year of 2023. Alphabet’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, was pleased with the company’s ongoing success. He pointed to gains in Google Search advertising, YouTube ad revenue, and demand for Google Cloud products and services. “We are pleased with the ongoing strength in Search and the growing contribution from YouTube and Cloud. Each of these is already benefiting from our AI investments and innovation. As we enter the Gemini era, the best is yet to come,” said Pichai. . . . #blockchainrevolution #seoforfinance #seoupdates #googleupdates #seostretegies 

💡 Ever wondered why Google made GA4 seemingly "worse" than Universal Analytics? Let's dive into it. 🔍 Picture yourself in Google's shoes: you've provided Universal Analytics for free to the internet for decades, but it's not covering its operating costs. So, what's Google's main agenda? Revenue from ads and cloud services, where they're striving to compete with cloud giants like Amazon and Microsoft. 💰 GA4 is Google's strategic move, but not in the way you might think: By shifting processing power to client-side browsers and offering data export to Google BigQuery, Google reduces costs and creates pathways to integrate GA4 data with other business tools/data, potentially locking in users to Google Cloud services. 📊 So it wasn't ever about building a better analytics tool/user interface/user experience... not in GA4 anyway. Watch the release notes in Looker Studio (https://lnkd.in/gKDuEt68), the BigQuery BI Engine that speeds up Looker Studio connections, and the BigQuery portions of Google Cloud updates (https://lnkd.in/gQQHz54H). Compare it to the activity in GA4 release notes (https://lnkd.in/gCxWXvQX). That tells the whole story – GA4 is just a pawn in Google's larger cloud ambitions 🚀 So what? This isn't necessarily bad, it just means you should invest alongside the big investments, not counter to them. If you want digital analytics data integrated with your CRM/ERP/Ads platforms then turn on the BigQuery connection to GA4 and sync up with your data team or consulting firm. If you need a self-serve digital analytics tool for a team of analysts that can be separated from your other business data, then checkout Heap, Amplitude, Kissmetrics, etc. 💬 What's your take on this strategy? Share your thoughts below! #GoogleAnalytics #GA4 #UniversalAnalytics #CloudServices #DataIntegration #DigitalMarketing

Google Cloud just reported an impressive $8Bn in Q2, marking a 28% growth and boosting Alphabet's stock up by 7%. We recently discussed their 🗽 refocus on #partnerships, AI, and other secrets behind Google Cloud's rapid progress with Avanish Sahai. Avanish Sahai is a board member and investor who previously led the Global Partner GTM at Google Cloud. He explained that at its core, Google Cloud's success revolves around two crucial aspects: 💎 Exceptional product experience deeply rooted in cutting-edge innovations and AI. Google Cloud's appeal lies in its ability to simplify the developer experience and provide differentiating features. As Avanish points out, "What Google Cloud brought to the table was that ease of developer experience, understanding what are the innovations that can help them differentiate, whether it's Kubernetes as a framework to be portable. Whether it's now AI that is driving a lot of the innovation and the growth in Google Cloud." 🤝 Refocus on Partner First Go-To-Market has played a vital role. Under Thomas Kurian's leadership, Google Cloud has started putting partners at the heart of its GTM strategy four years ago. Avanish recalls,  "I think that has been another big example of where, yes, there is a sell-to transaction, but it comes with a sell-with. If it makes sense, then joining the program, understanding how to really drive joint customer solutions, both horizontally and for industries. Those are the programs we started there. That I think has made a huge difference to how Google has accelerated." This strategy has also ensured alignment with the customer and the partner, making sure Google doesn't compete with them but rather collaborates for mutual success. 📈 The results speak for themselves: from $4 billion in 2019, Google Cloud is now on track for a $30+ billion run rate this year. Inspiring growth and lesson on applying Partner-First GTM at scale, don’t you think? 📊 These insights are part of our episode "In Sync with Giants: How to Win on #Cloud Marketplaces." To learn more about winning strategies in partnering with hyperscalers, catch the entire conversation with Avanish Sahai and Bryan Williams and read key insights in our latest newsletter. 👇 Link in comments Partner Insight #growth

🔎 75% of searchers start their search on Google – no better place to reach them! In this FREE webinar my colleague Clemens Ristl will show you not only the basics of #GoogleAds, but also tips and trips, hacks and best practices to grow your business. ➡️ 22. Sept | 10:00-11:00 am ⬇️ Link in comments #performancemarketing #google #ROAS #searchads

Early bird pricing for #GoogleCloudNext ends this week! Get 50% off the full ticket price until January 31 ➕ one year of Innovators Plus (limited quantity). #arizona @hibu #smallbusinesses #digitalmarketing #smallbusinessmarketing #scottsdaleaz #arizonabusiness #smallbusinessmarketing #googleads #google

Did you miss last week's #GoogleCloudNext session with our CTO Duleepa "Dups" Wijayawardhana? Or perhaps you couldn't get enough of it and want to revisit the talk? Good news — the full recording is now up on YouTube! 🎉 Find out how Supermetrics, with Google Cloud’s infrastructure and BigQuery capabilities, allows any customer to scale their marketing and business analytics in a more predictable and cost-effective way. Find the session here → https://lnkd.in/dkMHxghR