From the Wall Street Journal:
"Google rode a surge in online holiday spending to record revenue in the fourth quarter, even though it disclosed for the first time continued losses in its closely watched cloud division.
"The internet titan’s earnings, released Tuesday afternoon, reflected a continuing recovery in global ad spending that took a hit in early 2020 when people paused travel plans and other purchases in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
"Google parent Alphabet Inc. posted a record $56.9 billion revenue, up from $43.2 billion a year ago. The company’s advertising units pulled in $46.2 billion, up nearly 22% from a year earlier … Google also revealed details about the costs of its cloud division for the first time. While that unit brought in $3.8 billion in revenue, overall it lost $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter. This announcement will enable investors to better compare the results of Google’s cloud business with those of Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp."
