Google parent Alphabet Inc’s quarterly revenue and profit surged to record highs powered by a rise in digital advertising spending as more consumers shopped online.
Total revenue for Alphabet rose 61.6 percent to $61.88 billion in the second quarter of 2021. Quarterly profit was $18.5 billion.
Alphabet’s revenue from Google Search & other was $35.845 billion in the second quarter of 2021 vs $21.319 billion in the second quarter of 2020.
Alphabet’s revenue from YouTube ads was $7.002 billion in the second quarter of 2021 vs $3.812 billion in the second quarter of 2020.
Alphabet’s revenue from Google Network was $7.597 billion in the second quarter of 2021 vs $4.736 billion in the second quarter of 2020.
Alphabet’s revenue from Google advertising $50.444 billion in the second quarter of 2021 vs $29.867 billion in the second quarter of 2020.
Alphabet’s revenue from Google other areas was $6.623 billion in the second quarter of 2021 vs $5.124 billion in the second quarter of 2020.
Alphabet’s revenue from Google Cloud was $4.628 billion in the second quarter of 2021 vs $3.007 billion in the second quarter of 2020.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said: “In Q2, there was a rising tide of online activity in many parts of the world, and we’re proud that our services helped so many consumers and businesses. Our long-term investments in AI and Google Cloud are helping us drive significant improvements in everyone’s digital experience.”
“Alphabet has benefited from the general return of ad spend to the market and especially the balance of that return, which is more focused on digital channels than pre-pandemic,” said Tom Johnson, chief digital officer at WPP Mindshare.
Alphabet said revenue from Google advertising rose nearly 70 percent to $50.44 billion during the second quarter ended June 30.
Retail brands were the biggest contributor to the ads business’ growth, said Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief business officer. The travel, financial services and media and entertainment sectors were also strong, he added.
Ad revenue for the company’s streaming video platform YouTube grew 83.7 percent from the year-ago quarter to $7 billion – nearly as much as Netflix generated in quarterly revenue.
“YouTube was the fastest-growing segment during the quarter and points to the continued strength of video advertising for both direct response and brand goals,” Nicole Perrin, eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, said.
Google Cloud, which trails Amazon.com and Microsoft in market share, narrowed its operating loss to $591 million during the quarter.
