Google and its printer are learning what it's like to make a public gaffe in the age of Twitter. After the company's disappointing earnings were released hours early by accident—complete with the line, "PENDING LARRY QUOTE," referring to co-founder Larry Page—the Internet pounced, reports CNET. The big attention-getter is a Pending Larry Twitter account with tweets like this:
- "This is what happens when you submit your report to the SEC via Android."
- "To be fair, we released our earnings yesterday afternoon on Google Plus."
- "My pending quote: Google News is dropping its digital format, will go all-print." (If you don't get the joke, click here.)
Page himself apologized for the the earnings "scramble" in his conference call with reporters (listen to it via MarketWatch here) and tried to put a positive spin on the quarter, despite the big whiff on analysts' expectations. As for the real quote that ended up on results:
- "We had a strong quarter. Revenue was up 45 percent year-on-year, and, at just fourteen years old, we cleared our first $14 billion revenue quarter. I am also really excited about the progress we're making creating a beautifully simple, intuitive Google experience across all devices."
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