AI, Search and Cloud Computing Propel Alphabet Earnings

Alphabet, Google, earnings, Q3

Alphabet’s Q3 financial results, released Tuesday (July 26), showed that Google Search and Google Cloud were big factors in the company’s growth, along with greater innovations around artificial intelligence (AI).

“In the second quarter our performance was driven by Search and Cloud,” Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said. “The investments we’ve made over the years in AI and computing are helping to make our services particularly valuable for consumers, and highly effective for businesses of all sizes.

“As we sharpen our focus, we’ll continue to invest responsibly in deep computer science for the long-term.”

Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat added that the company had a “solid performance” in the quarter. The company saw overall revenues of $69.7 billion, a 13% boost from last year.

The release noted that Google Search revenue for the quarter was $40.6 million, up from $35.8 million last year. Additionally, Google Cloud raked in $6.2 million, up from $4.6 million last year.

With ad revenues slowing down, Alphabet has reportedly been looking more at digital payments and eCommerce, which will see it looking more closely at Google Pay. In late April, Pichai was quoted in a PYMNTS report saying that the company’s payment strategy is focused on making sure the payments work well.

See also: As Ad Biz Slows, Alphabet Looks to Google Pay and Shorts for Additional Revenue Tailwinds

“We want to make all of this work easier, both on the merchant and the financial institution side, and making sure they can connect with the customers well,” Pichai said at the time.

He added that there were 150 million people across 40 countries using Google Pay, with the base giving the tech giant license to “innovate and build new digital experiences” later on. Pichai said Google is building for scale and simplicity.

“And then over time, we will layer on additional helpful features,” he said. “But we are definitely focused on the first part now, making sure it works well for as many users across the world.”