Google parent company Alphabet has reported a 29% surge in profit to US$5.4 billion in the first quarter of the year.
Advertising continues to deliver the bulk of the company’s revenue, with a rise of 18.8% from a year earlier to US$21.41 billion despite reports of a widespread boycott of advertising on YouTube.
“Our excellent results represent a terrific start to 2017, with revenues up 22% versus the first quarter of 2016 and 24% on a constant currency basis. We clearly continue to benefit from our ongoing investments in product innovation and have great momentum in our new businesses across Alphabet,” said Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat.
Alphabet’s total revenue for the quarter was US$24.75 billion, including an almost 50% increase for Google’s “other revenues” to $3.10 billion. This segment covers hardware like the company’s Pixel smartphones and Home smart assistant, as well as the Google Play Store and its cloud business.
The company continues to sink money into its “Other Bets” division, which includes self-driving car technology Waymo, which delivered a loss of $855 million but increased its revenue from US$165 million in Q1 2016 to US$244 million in Q1 2017.
Shares were up 2.8% following the news.
