Alphabet stock down 7% over slow ad growth

Alphabet, Google's parent company, saw its stock tumbling 7 per cent after the company suggested that recent ad product changes in YouTube and Search are hurting its top-line growth.

Alphabet reported a revenue of $36.33 billion as profits fell 29 per cent to $6.66 billion, or $9.50 per share, in the first quarter of 2019 on Monday.

The profit was affected by a $1.7 billion fine levied by the European Union on Google for violating the European competition law.

"We delivered robust growth led by mobile search, YouTube and Cloud with Alphabet revenues of $36.3 billion, up 17 per cent versus last year, or 19 per cent on a constant currency basis," Ruth Porat, Chief Financial Officer of Alphabet and Google, said in a statement.

"We remain focused on, and excited by, the significant growth opportunities across our businesses," Porat added.

Later, in an earnings call with analysts, she suggested that recent ad product changes - keeping the interest of users' privacy in mind -- have slowed down mobile clicks on YouTube ads.

The company's hardware and Cloud businesses saw a 25 per cent increase to $5.45 billion.

Alphabet had 103,549 employees in the first quarter of 2019 -- up from 85,050 employees in the same period a year ago.

--IANS

na/ksk