Google 2020 earnings: YouTube, Search continued to mint money for Alphabet

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, made $182.5 billion in 2020 and most of it was driven by Search and YouTube.

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 4, 2017, attendees wait in line to enter a Google product launch event at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco, California. - Google parent Alphabet on February 2, 2021, reported that its quarterly profit rocketed some 50 percent to $15.2 billion at the end of last year as its digital ad business thrived. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage / AFP) (AFP)

Alphabet, Google's parent company, released its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 results and the numbers are mighty. Alphabet made $56.9 billion in Q4, the quarter that ended on December 31 - a 23% increase over the $46.2 billion it had made over the same time in 2019.

The company's chief financial officer Ruth Porat said in a statement that the revenue was driven by Search and YouTube “as consumer and business activity recovered from earlier in the year”.

This revenue growth trend continues from the last quarter, as Engadget pointed out, when Alphabet reported $46.2 billion as compared to $40.5 billion over the same period in 2019.

For Q4 2020, of the $56.9 billion made, $52.9 billion came from Google Services, $3.8 billion from Google Cloud while $196 million was made from the Other Bets division.

In total, Alphabet has made $182.5 billion in 2020 and “Google Search & Other” revenues totaled $31.9 billion, while YouTube ads got in $6.9 billion.

CEO Sunder Pichai recapped some of Alphabet's latest announcements over the call with press and investors and talked about the redesigned Google Pay app, the multi-year partnership between Ford and Android Auto, the new Maps features and the acquisition of Fitbit. The earnings from Fitbit will be disclosed under Google Other segment going forward, Porat said during the call.

Speaking about YouTube, Pichai said that Alphabet has seen two important trends in 2020 - live video and short-form media. He added that more than half a million channels live-streamed on YouTube for the first time in 2020 and videos in the new Shorts player have been receiving three and a half billion views daily.

While Alphabet witnessed a dip in revenue in the second quarter of 2020, it managed to bounce back, as Porat pointed out mentioning their “exceptional fourth quarter performance”.

“After a substantial pullback at the outset of the pandemic, brand spending began to recover in the third quarter,” said Chief Business Officer Philip Schindler.

“We saw significant acceleration of brand spending on YouTube Network revenues in the fourth quarter,” he added indicating the views YouTube continues to get and how advertisers are keen on putting their brands right in front of it all.