- Arguing two new ad products will put Google (GOOG +1.7%, GOOGL +1.5%) on better competitive footing with Facebook, Oppenheimer's Jason Helfstein has upgraded to Outperform, and hiked his target by $30 to $700.
- Helfstein notes Google's recently-announced Customer Match product, which lets marketers send targeted ads to users who have already provided them with an e-mail address, helps Google counter Facebook's Custom Audiences, which does something similar. Meanwhile, Universal App Campaigns (announced in May), which enables app install ad campaigns running across search, mobile sites, Google Play, YouTube, and the AdMob mobile ad network, takes aim at Facebook's lucrative app install ad business.
- He also downplays concerns about ad-blockers, citing Google's control over Chrome and Android, financial clout to pay for whitelist status on ad-blockers (provided a particular ad-blocker supports the arrangement), and a mix shift from display to search ads. Worth noting: Chrome supports ad-blockers on PCs, and some blockers remove search ads.
- Meanwhile, Helfstein thinks Google's bread-and-butter search ad business remains healthy. "While desktop search is losing share to emerging formats (video, mobile, etc.), total search will still represent the majority of Internet ad spend in the U.S. (45%) and internationally (47%). Mobile search is growing at a ’13-’18 compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34% in the U.S. and 36% internationally."
- Separately, Google's restructuring into a holding company called Alphabet will officially go into effect after today's close. Google's stock tickers and board will remain the same. Alphabet's units include core Google (run by Sundar Pichai), Nest, Fiber, Calico, Google Ventures, Google Capital, and the Google X long-term R&D unit.