Google’s parent company, Alphabet, said on Tuesday that revenue in its most recent quarter increased sharply from the same period a year ago, boosted by strong demand for online advertising on its search results and YouTube videos and by continued growth at its cloud computing arm.
Alphabet posted revenue of $55.31 billion, up 34 percent from a year earlier, and net profit more than doubled to $17.93 billion in the first quarter. The results came in above analysts’ expectations.
Like the other technology conglomerates, Alphabet has thrived during the pandemic. After a pullback in travel-related advertising during the first few months of the pandemic, Google’s advertising business has rebounded strongly, with businesses targeting consumers who are spending more time online.
Google’s cloud computing business has continued to scoop up customers during the pandemic as companies have moved more of their data and work into centralized data centers in an effort to save money and become more digitally nimble. But Google continues to be a distant third to Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud business. Revenue at the cloud business grew 46 percent, while its losses narrowed to $974 million in the first quarter.