GOOGLE'S AD SALES SLOW DRAMATICALLY, ERODING PARENT'S PROFIT

Summertime revenue growth at Google's corporate parent slipped to its slowest pace since the pandemic jarred the economy more than two years ago, with advertisers clamping down on spending and bracing for a potential recession.

Alphabet Inc., which owns an array of smaller technology companies in addition to Google, this week posted revenue of $69.1 billion for the July-September quarter, a 6% increase from the same time last year.

It marked the first time Alphabet's year-over-year quarterly revenue has risen by less than 10% since the April-June period of 2020. At that time, the advertisers that generate most of its revenue pulled in their reins because of the economic uncertainty during the pandemic's early months.

Google's ad sales weakened even more dramatically than Alphabet's overall revenue. Ad revenue totaled $54.5 billion, up just 2.5% from the same time last year. In another sign of more challenging times, YouTube's quarterly ad sales decreased 2% from last year, the first time the video site's revenue has regressed since Google began disclosing its results in 2019.

The revenue slowdown also created a drag on Alphabet's profits. The Mountain View, California, company earned $13.9 billion, $1.06 per share, a 27% drop from the same time last year. Both revenue and earnings per share fell below projections of analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Alphabet's shares declined nearly 7% in extended trading after the numbers came out. The stock price has plummeted by more than 30% this year, erasing about $600 billion in shareholder wealth.