November 23, 2007

Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” button costs them $110 million per year

by yogesh

If we go by what Google cofounder Sergey Brin says then their “I’m feeling lucky” button is not so luck for their revenue. On a chat with public radio’s Marketplace he said that around 1% of all Google searches go through the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. Since the button takes users directly to the top search result, Google doesn’t get to show search ads on 1% of all its searches. This costs the company $110 million in annual revenue, according to Rapt’s Tom Chavez. “It’s possible to become too dry, too corporate, too much about making money.

I think what’s delightful about ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ is that it reminds you there are real people here,” Google exec Marissa Mayer explained as to why the (un) lucky button is still around the Google pages.
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