Google, which had been scheduled to post its quarterly earnings report after the close of trading today, reported net revenue of $11.33 billion, missing market expectations of $11.86 billion.

Although quarterly revenue was up 45%, year over year, so were operating expenses, which rose from $3.28 billion a year ago to $4.81 billion in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, according to a report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

And despite layoffs earlier this year, Google's recently acquired Motorola Mobility business showed an operating loss of $527 million on revenue of $2.58 billion.

"OK, first Motorola lost a lot of money...and from what I'm hearing, Google has a mobile problem, too," said Olds. "They can't charge as much for a mobile ad or click as they can for a regular one on a browser. Mobile advertising is generating less revenue for all of the players, including Google."

Google isn't alone. Figuring out how to monetize the burgeoning mobile market is a problem that has has plagued Facebook - in a very public way.