Google had a very good year, indeed; revenue up 36% for 2012, reaches $50 billion mark

It is earnings season again, and Google led things off with a bang, reporting that the company had reached the $50 billion mark for revenue for the year, up 36 percent over 2011.

"We ended 2012 with a strong quarter," Larry Page, CEO of Google, said in the company's press release. "Revenues were up 36% year-on-year, and 8% quarter-on-quarter. And we hit $50 billion in revenues for the first time last year – not a bad achievement in just a decade and a half. In today’s multi-screen world we face tremendous opportunities as a technology company focused on user benefit. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be at Google."

Net income came in at $10.7 billion, up almost exactly $1 billion over the prior year, a 10.3 percent gain year over year.

For the first time the company was able to report revenue from Motorola Mobility, though no year-over-year numbers will be seen until later this year.

In Q4 Google advertising grew 12.6 percent to $12.9 billion, though revenue growth slow somewhat in the quarter compared to Google's overall 2012 revenue growth of 21.5 percent.

While Google's cash hoard has not reached Apple levels, it is still at an impressive level, with over $14 billion in cash available, as well as $33 billion in marketable securities – that means even more acquisitions in the future, of course.