So THAT’s why the Pixel 6 is so affordable
Forget all you’ve heard about supply chain bottlenecks and chip shortages — none of it seems to be bothering Google. Alphabet announced its Q3 earnings this afternoon, raking in yet another round of record-setting revenue.
Although net profit is roughly equal to what the company reported back in July, that’s still nearly double what it brought in this time last year. Overall revenue skyrocketed as well, coming in at $65.1 billion. That’s $4 billion more than last quarter and nearly $20 billion more than Q3 2020.
Once again, ads on Google’s search engine managed to power the majority of that cash, bringing in another $37 billion. YouTube ads, meanwhile, delivered more than $7 billion in profit. All that advertising cash is flowing in just as some newly detailed court documents show just how much power Google has in this industry — a rough look with so many ongoing antitrust lawsuits.
We’ve been keeping an eye on Google’s cloud services, as it seemed close to finally becoming profitable. Unfortunately, without the boost granted from Photos users suddenly losing access to free storage, the sector wasn’t able to escape its losses. Still, with revenue just shy of $5 billion, it’s the highest amount we’ve seen from cloud services so far.
Unsurprisingly, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai made sure to mention the recent launch of the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. While we’ll never know for sure how much money those phones bring in — Google lumps hardware into a vague “services” category alongside other various projects — it’s setting up an interesting Q4 as the phones go on sale just before the holidays.
Whether this growth will continue in Q4 is another question. Google teased some increased marketing costs throughout the back half of this year related to the Pixel 6, a factor that could impact the following earnings report. Thanks to those recently-lowered subscription fees, the company also warned of the Play Store’s impact becoming “more muted” than its rapid growth during the pandemic.
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