Alphabet, the tech giant’s parent company, reported revenues of $ 46.17 billion for the three months ending in September – an increase of 14% over the same period last year – highlighting its continued dominance even as it faces many hurdles.
“We had a strong quarter, in keeping with the wider online environment,” Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, said in a statement. “It’s also a testament to the deep investments we’ve made in artificial intelligence and other technologies.”
However, in the third quarter, Google ad revenue jumped nearly 10% year-over-year, with search ad revenue growing 6.5% and YouTube ad revenue increasing 32%.
Alphabet’s chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, said in a statement that the huge profits “reflect broad-based growth led by an increase in advertiser spending on search and YouTube as well as continued strength in Google Cloud and Play.” “We remain focused on making the right investments to support sustainable long-term value.”
Pichai defended his company’s handling of content, saying it was approaching its business without political bias, “a complete halt.”
He added: “Doing otherwise would be contrary to our commercial interests and our mission, forcing us to make information available to every type of person, regardless of where they live or what they think.”
Google was also hit by an antitrust lawsuit by the US Department of Justice last week, the largest case of its kind against a tech company in more than two decades when a lawsuit was filed against Microsoft. The Justice Department claimed that Google has stifled competition to maintain its strong position in the online search and search ads market.
Google denied the accusations and criticized the lawsuit, describing it as “deeply flawed.”
“People use Google because they choose to, not because they are forced to, or because they cannot find alternatives,” Kent Walker, Google’s senior vice president of global affairs, wrote in a blog post.
Pichai echoed the sentiment during Thursday’s earnings call.
“We know that our research success is not guaranteed,” he said. “We are proud that people choose Google Search, not because they have to, but because it is useful.”
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has said “nothing is off the table” when it comes to regulating the company’s search dominance.
Although he sought to downplay this dominance somewhat during the earnings call, Pichai has also repeatedly promoted that Google search is indispensable, especially during the pandemic.
“Access to information has never been more important,” he said in a company’s earnings call. “This year, including this quarter, has shown how important Google’s founding product, search, is to people.”
The pandemic has also provided a boost to countless other Google services, as people continue to work and socialize from home – Pichai said views of targeted meditation videos on YouTube have increased by 40% since mid-March, for example, and tutorials on how to make content. Masks on over a billion views.
Google’s cloud business revenue increased 45% compared to the same quarter last year.
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