Google’s cloud and search divisions propped up a generally weak first quarter for 2022 from Alphabet, due in large part to increased investment, falling advertising revenue for its YouTube division, and the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Alphabet revenue for the first period of 2022 was $68 billion, which is up 23% from the same quarter in 2021. Profit was down 8% year-over-year to $16.4 billion.
Google CFO Ruth Porat told analysts that investment in real estate, data centers and headcount, as well as “content acquisition costs, primarily driven by costs for subscription content and then costs for YouTube’s advertising-supported content,” were the primary factors leading to the reduced profits for the quarter.
