The Atlantic

Google's Profits Are Exploding Because the Web Is Massive

The company's global ad business is now larger than that of Facebook, Alibaba, Baidu, Twitter, Amazon and Snap, combined.
Source: Mike Blake / Reuters

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, just announced one of the most impressive earnings reports in tech history. In the midst of a rough news cycle for the company—with concerns about false stories appearing in search results and a huge antitrust fine from the European Union—Alphabet announced that its quarterly profits surged by 33 percent in the last quarter.

Home to the largest advertising firm ever assembled, Alphabet is the second most valuable. This quarter’s profit margin was its highest in almost five years, and the company has notched double-digit growth in sales in 15 consecutive quarters.

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