The World Cup Runs Over Google

Google can’t be a big fan of FIFA’s World Cup, the month-long futbol extravaganza.

The reason? Hundreds of millions of people are watching the matches on television, and hundreds of thousands are expected to attend the games in person.

For Google, and other Internet companies, that translates into less Internet activity in general, which in turn has a negative effect on revenues for this financial quarter and the next, said analysts at Lehman Brothers.

The impact, financial or otherwise, extends beyond the tourney’s 30 or so days. Lehman analysts suggest that large numbers of people, especially in Europe where Google has a strong market share, may have delayed vacations until after the competition ends.

This is not to say Google won’t be reporting its usual gangbuster financial results when they are due up next. In fact, Lehman analysts said they expect Google to at least beat, if not exceed, financial expectations when reporting its second quarter financial results.

Yet, the World Cup shows just how fortunes can sometimes swing on something as simple and disconnected from Google as 11 men in short pants kicking a ball around a field.