REUTERS: Alphabet Inc's Google failed to reap the benefits of a strong economy that bolstered rivals in the first quarter, leaving the search giant's revenue below Wall Street targets on Monday.
The 17 percent rise was the slowest in three years and compared with 26 percent for the same quarter a year earlier.AdvertisementQuarterly costs rose about the same as revenue, up 16.5 percent from last year to US$29.7 billion. About 84.5 percent of revenue, compared with 85.5 percent a year ago, came from Google’s ad business, which sells links, banners and commercials across its own websites and apps and those of partners.Google's 3 billion users help make it the world's largest seller of internet ads, capturing nearly a third of all revenue, according to research firm EMarketer. Facebook is at about 20 percent.
Still, the company has yet to tout significant revenue from its spending on ventures such as self-driving cars and its AI helper Google Assistant.