Alphabet (Google) Sees Big Net Income, Revenue Gains

Big Tech keeps rolling, with Google parent company Alphabet reporting a net income of $20.6 billion on revenues of $75.3 billion for the most recent quarter. Those figures represent gains of 35 percent and 32 percent, respectively.

“Our deep investment in AI technologies continues to drive extraordinary and helpful experiences for people and businesses, across our most important products,” Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said. “Q4 saw ongoing strong growth in our advertising business, which helped millions of businesses thrive and find new customers, a quarterly sales record for our Pixel phones despite supply constraints, and our Cloud business continuing to grow strongly.”

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From a financial performance perspective, Alphabet has one terrific business and two decent businesses. As always, Google’s revenues from advertising in the quarter dominated: They were up 17 percent to $61.2 billion and represented over 81 percent of Alphabet’s total revenues.

Google’s second-biggest business, Google other, which includes hardware, the Play Store, and other non-advertising revenues, delivered $8.1 billion in revenues. And Google Cloud delivered another $5.5 billion.

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Conversation 6 comments

  • pungkuss

    01 February, 2022 - 6:44 pm

    <p>I would break the businesses out differently. We can’t lump the entire ad business into one, the same way we can’t lump Apple’s hardware business into one.</p><p><br></p><p>YouTube is a totally different product from search, or sites business. The shocking thing is that Search just doesn’t ever seem to plateau, being their oldest business. I think that business would have my vote as the best business of all time. It just prints money.</p><p><br></p><p>The funny thing is, even the small businesses are massive. That Google Other business is bigger than Netflix.</p><p><br></p><p>Did they break out the sites business, because I think that business will be taken away from them with anti-trust. I don’t think it will should be allowed keep that business and run the market at the same time. Would be interesting to see what percentage of their business that is.</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      02 February, 2022 - 3:43 am

      <p>Search is a cost-centre. It is supported by the advertising division.</p><p><br></p><p>Don’t forget, as the earnings show, Google is first and foremost an advertising service.</p><p><br></p><p>Search and YouTube (for non-subscription payers) is just a way to show ads.</p>

      • minke

        02 February, 2022 - 7:03 am

        <p>I bet Google gains lots of advertising intelligence from both YouTube and Search. It’s a perfect way to learn what individuals are interested in at a particular moment in time.</p>

        • wright_is

          Premium Member
          02 February, 2022 - 1:44 pm

          <p>Not really, their targeting is pretty poor.</p><p><br></p><p>According to Google, I am a pensioner with arthritis, in danger of catching shingles and I need to get my new born baby vaccinated.</p><p><br></p><p>im not retired, I don’t have arthritis, I am not at risk for shingles and I don’t have a new born baby – and how do they come to the idea that a retiree would have a new born baby?</p>

      • pungkuss

        02 February, 2022 - 1:04 pm

        <p>I don’t think YouTube is just a way to show ads for Google. They remain the only social media platform that shares more than half the ad dollars to creators. I genuinely think the people in Google care about these products. Doesn’t mean they won’t milk it like a cow. The way you word it is like any old surface (to show ads) will do. That sounds too jaded. I think all of these tech companies care about their products…. Sometimes there are decisions that are made where money comes out ahead of user experience and sometimes not. </p>

    • jchampeau

      Premium Member
      02 February, 2022 - 7:32 am

      <p>I think they’re broken out in a meaningful way. Basically, they have two categories of revenues: "advertising," and "not advertising."</p>

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