Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the world's biggest advertising company. It established itself as the industry leader largely due to the strength of Google Search, which has a monopoly-like market share for online search. That business, more than any other under Alphabet's umbrella, has helped give the company a valuation of around $2 trillion.
Digital advertising has proven to be a highly lucrative business for Alphabet, and it's driven superior operating margins at the company for much of its history. After all, Google's search page is among the most valuable digital real estate properties on the internet. It's the first place most users go when they want to get new information about a health concern, a trip they're planning, or a restaurant they're interested in, among other things.
The chart below shows how Google compares to its closest rivals in search around the world.
Image source: Statista.
As you can see, not only is Alphabet light years ahead of Microsoft, Baidu, and Yandex, but there's more to Alphabet's ad business than just search. So where does Alphabet's ad revenue come from?
Let's take a closer look.
Google's ad revenue breakdown
Of the $237.9 billion Alphabet generated in ad revenue in 2023, $175.0 billion, or 73.6%, came from Google Search. The company's trademark search engine remains the primary driver of both revenue and profits at the tech giant.
After Search, it brought in $31.5 billion, or 13.3%, via YouTube, its leading video-sharing platform. Google Network, its third-party ads that are served on partner websites, brought in $31.3 billion, about the same percentage as YouTube.
Google's ad business is still delivering strong growth, up 11% year over year in the second quarter. And based on its dominance of the space and the consistent need of businesses to advertise on Google, it's likely to continue to grow.
Expect Alphabet to maintain its leadership in the digital advertising industry for years to come.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Baidu, Microsoft, and Nebius Group. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
