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On October 26 ,　　Beijing time , Alphabet , the parent company of Google, released its third-quarter 2022 financial report. Alphabet shares fell nearly 7% in after-hours trading as profit margins tumbled .

　　A slowdown in its core search-advertising business caused the company's total revenue to fall short of expectations. Alphabet 's third-quarter revenue hit $ 69.1 billion, up 6% from a year earlier , missing analysts' expectations of 9% . That was Google's slowest single-quarter growth since 2013 , according to Refinitiv data . Meanwhile, Alphabet recorded a third-quarter net profit of $ 13.9 billion, down 27% from a year earlier and also missing analysts' expectations of $ 16.9 billion.

　　All the worries about Google's business from the outside world have been revealed in this financial report.

Google’s advertising revenue , which 　　accounted for more than 80% of the total, was $ 54.48 billion, far lower than analysts’ expectations of $ 56.98 billion; search and other related business revenue in the third quarter was $ 39.54 billion, lower than the expected $ 40.87 billion , revealing In a rather weak state; YouTube advertising revenue unexpectedly fell instead of increasing, down 2% year-on-year to $ 7.1 billion, compared with analysts' expectations for a 4.4% increase. This is also the first decline in YouTube ad sales since Google adjusted its earnings structure in 2020 and reported YouTube ad performance separately.

　　Some analysts pointed out that search advertising has always been the focus of the marketing industry before, and Google has established its dominance . It fills Google's profit needs, but this part of the revenue has also deteriorated. Previously, YouTube launched its own short video platform , YouTube Shorts , to set up a banner against TikTok , but its power of realization can only be seen later.

　　Based on the continued downturn in the overall advertising market in fiscal 2022 , analysts have lowered their third-quarter expectations for Google, but the final answer doubled the market's disappointment.

　　Alphabet executives said on the conference call that insurance, loans, mortgages and ad spending related to cryptocurrencies, the gaming industry, and rising inflation all dampened the company’s digital ad growth in the third quarter.

　　Cloud computing is the only area where Google still has a role to play. In the third quarter, Google's cloud business revenue was US$ 6.87 billion, a year-on-year increase of 37.6% , higher than analysts' expectations of US$ 6.61 billion, and a slight acceleration from 35.6% in the second quarter.

　　Google's cloud unit, which has yet to turn a profit, is in the midst of slowing losses, with a loss of $ 699 million better than analysts' forecast of $ 814.25 million. Although Google ranks far behind Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud market, the cloud business has been regarded as one of the most important pillars supporting Google's valuation space. Google Cloud 's revenue in the second quarter of 2022 is three times that of its advertising business, and revenue growth has reached 44% in each of the past three years.

　　As for the innovation business segment, which is Alphabet ’s other investments , a group of nascent companies including self-driving car company Waymo and life sciences division Verily , with revenue of only $ 209 million, a very low percentage of overall revenue, and currently A loss of $ 1.61 billion shows no sign of a positive contribution. However, Google's venture capital arm is still pouring money.

　　Google now has 186,779 employees, an increase of more than 12,000 from the number reported in July . The company said on a conference call that it would slow hiring to prepare for economic uncertainty. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a conversation with investors that the company is " focused on slowing operating expense growth . " Meanwhile, the company’s chief financial officer, Borat, said it expects the number of new hires to be cut by more than half in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter.

At the end of September　　just past , Google announced that it would close the Google cloud gaming platform Stadia on January 18 , 2023 , and there was news of a massive reduction in its internal new project incubator Area 120 to control spending and focus on AI -first projects. It is regarded by the outside world as a signal that Google is about to lay off employees. But so far, Google has not started mass layoffs.

　　Shares of the giant have been hovering at a one-year low recently. At press time, Alphabet shares were down 6.98% in after-hours trading at $ 97.95 .