Alphabet's annual revenues roar into the $200 billion mark

Alphabet, Google’s parent company recorded revenues for the year of $257 billion,  the first time it has topped $200 billion. Its quarterly profit grew 36 percent to US$20.6 billion which is attributed in part to strong online consumer activity.

The company’s quarterly revenue also skyrocketed 32 percent from the year US$75.3 billion compared to the previous year of US$56.9 billion.

These results highlight the power technology companies still have even amidst a global pandemic. As people continue to work remotely, the need for the internet and internet services such as cloud, advertising and smart accessories will always be around.

This quarter also saw Google’s ad business soar with the company reporting its advertising revenue – including YouTube ads - growing 32 percent coming in at US$61.2 billion.

Philipp Schindler, chief business officer at Google said retail was the biggest contributor to the company’s growth.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google said, “Q4 saw ongoing strong growth in our advertising business, which helped millions of businesses thrive and find new customers, a quarterly sales record for our Pixel phones despite supply constraints, and our Cloud business continuing to grow strongly.

“Our deep investment in AI technologies continues to drive extraordinary and helpful experiences for people and businesses, across our most important products,” he added.

Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet and Google, said: “Our fourth quarter revenues of $75 billion, up 32% year over year, reflected broad-based strength in advertiser spend and strong consumer online activity, as well as substantial ongoing revenue growth from Google Cloud.

“Our investments have helped us drive this growth by delivering the services that people, our partners and businesses need, and we continue to invest in long-term opportunities.”

The company hired an additional 6,500 people compared to the previous year, with Porat noting she expects this pace to continue in 2022.