Google parent company Alphabet has shared its earnings conference call for Q2 2023 which shows that the company’s second-quarter revenue rose 7% to $74.6 billion from $69.7 billion in the year-earlier period.
Alphabet reported single-digit growth for the fourth consecutive quarter due to a decrease in digital ad spending, influenced by economic concerns.
Google’s ad revenue increased by 3.3% to reach $58.14 billion, compared to last year’s$56.29 billion. YouTube’s ad revenue surpassed analyst expectations, reaching $7.67 billion, an increase from $7.34 billion in the previous year despite facing strong competition from TikTok in short-form videos.
Google’s focus on AI
Speaking at the earnings call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai says the company is committed to making AI helpful for everyone in four important ways:
- Improving knowledge and learning
- Boost their creativity and productivity
- Innovation using AI
- Developing and deploying AI responsibly
“We are in a period of incredible innovation for Search, which has continuously evolved over the years,” said Pichai. “For example, we found that generative AI can connect the dots for people as they explore a topic or project, helping them weigh multiple factors and personal preferences before making a purchase or booking a trip.”
As part of the company’s commitment to deploy AI technology responsibly so that everyone can benefit, Pichai added that, “We signed on to joint commitments with other leading AI companies at the White House, building on the principles that have guided our work for many years.”
AI expands to other products
Google is also planning on bringing its generative AI tools to Android devices starting with Android 14, the company’s latest OS which it says will, “Incorporate our advances in generative AI to personalise Android phones.”
The search giant says AI is currently supercharging new and existing ads products, and that the nascent technology has been at the core of its ads business for years. Adding that nearly 80% of advertisers today use at least one AI-powered search ads product. Google is also planning to bring unique generative AI features to its Search after “search and other” revenue rose to $42.63 billion, up slightly from last year.
“This quarter saw our next major evolution with the launch of the Search Generative Experience, or SGE, which uses the power of generative AI to make Search even more natural and intuitive,” said Pichai.
Overall, the company’s net income rose to $18.37 billion, or $1.44 per share, from $16 billion, or $1.21 per share, during the second quarter of 2022. In addition, Alphabet was up 47% for the year, compared to the 19% gain in the S&P 500.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
