Ok, its not like I’m saying anything new, but Google is having a hell of a quarter. One of the best ways to track Google (adwords/adsense) revenue momentum is to subscribe to Internet Retailer’s email newsletter. The latest one contains the following headlines. . .

The big guys rake ‘em in during the holidays

Walmart.com reports a 40% increase in holiday traffic

Zappos.com posts a 67% increase in December sales

Amazon ships out more than 100 million holiday orders

Hot Ice: Testing key to Ice.com sales jump

Checking channels is the first thing they teach you at How To Be A Research Analyst 101. So if I was to cover hardware companies I would be checking channels almost on a weekly basis (ie making friends with the new stock boy at the regional distro center) . . . for example I’ll be checking Ingram Micro if I am covering ATI, or BestBuy if I am covering MSFT (Xbox). Well, for Google, checking channels is almost equivalent to seeing how the e-tailers are doing since e-tailers manages their search advertising budget based on consumer demand. So with good news coming out of e-tailers over the holidays and each one of them a major Google customer, its safe to say that Google is gonna blow out Q4 (now, how they will massage their earnings numbers is another issue).

Since Safa is the new Blodget (in a good way). I’m sure he checked around before making that $600 call on GOOG. The run-up in GOOG (440-460!) in the last 3 days is probably driven partly by fundamentals and partly by hype that is also based on fundamentals. . . ie 75% deserved, 25% fluff. . . I dont know whether GOOG is too highly valued or not but I do think Q4 will be one for the ages . . .