Google drops Moderator app for earnings Q&A

Jan 20, 2010

Company is experimenting with different approaches, says source

Google has decided not to repeat the use of its Q&A voting system for its Q4 earnings call tomorrow. The company used its own Moderator application to run its Q&A last quarter, which allows investors to vote on which questions should be put to management.

On that occasion, 396 people submitted a total of 124 questions and cast 5,525 votes. The most popular questions were read out to management by director of IR Maria Shim.

A source close to the tech company suggests Google is still experimenting with different approaches to its conference call.

The Moderator system was praised for bringing transparency to a process often criticized for its opacity. Many companies use technology to screen callers and make sure favored analysts are able to ask questions first.

The change at Google was one of a number of ways in which companies have recently tried to shake up the traditional earnings call model. Last week, Intel published a CFO commentary to its website an hour before its call began, to cut down on prepared comments and allow more time for Q&A. Intel first used this approach for its Q3 results in October last year.

Google’s decision to drop the Moderator system, however, is a reminder that companies may not want to cede too much control over the Q&A process. ‘We find that for IR calls, the event planners and C-levels prefer a more controlled approach to Q&As, and therefore want the ability to manipulate the question queues,’ says Gary Iles, senior director of strategy and products at ACT Conferencing.

‘Most clients I follow are using a fairly standard package at the moment,’ notes Craig Armitage, senior vice president at Equicom, an IR agency.

Google’s Q4 call is due to start at 1.30pm Pacific Time tomorrow, with an additional Q&A session following an hour and a half later. The call is likely to be dominated by questions around Google’s strategy in China, with the search giant considering pulling out of the Chinese market after a series of cyber-attacks came from inside the country.

By Tim Human