Google: We drove $80 billion of US economic activity last year

From CNET News.com: Google is driving serious economic activity in the U.S., according to the company.

The search giant today unveiled its 2011 Economic Impact report, and said that its search and advertising tools, including AdWords and AdSense, drove $80 billion in economic activity across the U.S. last year. The company was able to reach that figure with help from "1.8 million businesses, Web site publishers, and non-profits across the U.S."

In order to arrive at that figure, Google used some fancy math. The company estimates that businesses that use AdWords make $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on the advertising platform. In addition, the company assumed that a business will receive five clicks in search results for every one click on their ads.

"If search clicks brought in as much revenue for businesses as ad clicks, these two assumptions would imply that businesses receive $11 in profit for every $1 they spend on AdWords," the company said. "This is because, if advertisers receive 2 times as much value from AdWords as they spend on AdWords, and they receive 5 times as much value from Google Search as they do from AdWords, then the total profit they receive is 11 times what they spend."

Beyond Adwords, Google included how much it paid to Web site publishers in 2011 via AdSense and the impact its Grants have on the companies to which it awards its cash. Google did not include the economic impact of Google Maps and YouTube.

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