DailyLead: Microsoft Reports Record Growth

News of the Day:

Microsoft reports 30% growth in revenue

Net profit in Microsoft's fiscal second quarter, thanks to strong Vista sales, rose to $4.7 billion from $2.6 billion. Revenue rose 30 percent to $16.37 billion.

The Online Services Business (MSN and Windows Live) reported a $245million operating loss for the quarter compared to $265million loss repoted in Q1. The company said the loss was due in part to increased costs of data centers and expenses related to its $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive Inc

Sales of Vista and its Office suite and video games helped lift quarterly revenue by 30%.

The company boosted its revenue outlook to between $59.9 billion and $60.5 billion, up from $58.8 billion to $59.7 billion before.

Microsoft expects strong growth across its five major businesses in coming quarters, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in an interview after announcing the results. "We feel optimistic going into the second half,"

Microsoft shares were up 5.3% to $35 in after-hours trading after closing at $33.25, up 4.13%

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Industry Watch:

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Blog Watch:

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• Google Health shows more signs of life (Googling Google)
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• Google AdWords Relaunches Demographic Bidding (Search Engine Roundtable)
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• Guarantee Top Search Placement Masked Through PPC Ads (Search Engine Roundtable)
  A High Rankings Forum member had a chat with a snakeoil salesman who promised to guarantee 3000 searches a month for a client's particular niche. How is this possible without using some shady tactics? Numerous possibilities arise. They could just be using "over-inflated Overture numbers," as forum administrator Jill Whalen explains. Moderator Randy says that it could just be numbers generated from collecting AdWords impression data. You could also get an idea about the number.
  
  
• Google AdWords Testing Click To Call Ads Again? (Search Engine Journal)
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