When I said interest I meant investments
Then you should have said that... and it would still be silly.
Wow - you guys/girls really don't have a clue.
It is you who don't, actually.
First, you are partially right in that Google keeps money owed for up to 30 days. But, if you have any experience in the business world, you know that 30 days is standard for when companies pay contractors. Heck, some have payment terms of 60, 90 even 120 days. Even if you WORK for a company, your paycheck is typically 14 days out.
Second, even in today's electronic banking system, it still takes time for money to trickle through. So the payments that Google gets from AdWords advertisers (because they posted ads that we need to be paid for) need to be processed by a credit card company. Then likely held shortly to protect against fraud. Sent to Google's accounts where some kind of verification process happens there I am sure. It is entirely possible that Google does not even get the money that we made for them for 30 days. As a business, they are actually being really nice in giving it to us at 30 days. It would be considered totally legit if they decided to hold onto it for another 30. I know I don't pay my contractors until I have gotten the money they helped me make.
Third, for a non-bank company to do what you are suggesting is crazy. Companies like Google don't have a bevy of investment analysts just sitting around playing with their money. Investing in the stock market is gambling. Worth it if you are in it for the long run where bad bets are countered by good ones and time corrects for fluctuation, but not for investments that only last a month or a week.
If they do actually get the money ahead of the 30 days, it is much more likely that they are using it the same way
most large companies do, as a non-stop short term loan to pay for operating costs. They may even be using it for long term investments that just continually get backed by AdSense publisher payments, but then you have to wonder if that money is really the AdSense payments as it would never technically shift.
And before you even say it, just because they could pay us before they had money in hand, does not mean they are obligated to. They are a business, not a charity. They are operating as a business should.
