Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL)

ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Please read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with “Note about Forward-Looking Statements,” Part I, Item 1 "Business," Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors," and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The following section generally discusses 2024 results compared to 2023 results. Discussion of 2023 results compared to 2022 results to the extent not included in this report can be found in Item 7 of our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Understanding Alphabet’s Financial Results

Alphabet is a collection of businesses — the largest of which is Google. We report Google in two segments, Google Services and Google Cloud; we also report all non-Google businesses collectively as Other Bets. For further details on our segments, see Part I, Item 1 Business and Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Trends in Our Business and Financial Effect

The following long-term trends have contributed to the results of our consolidated operations, and we anticipate that they will continue to affect our future results:

•Users' behaviors and advertising continue to shift online as the digital economy evolves.

The continuing evolution of the online world has contributed to the growth of our business and our revenues since inception. We expect that this evolution will continue to benefit our business and our revenues, although at a slower pace than we have experienced historically. In addition, we face increasing competition for user engagement and advertisers, including from other developers and providers of AI products and services, which may affect our revenues.

•Users continue to access our products and services using diverse devices and modalities, which allows for new advertising formats that may benefit our revenues but adversely affect our margins.

Our users are accessing our products and services via diverse devices and modalities beyond traditional desktop, such as smartphones, wearables, connected TVs, and smart home devices, and want to be able to be connected no matter where they are or what they are doing. We are focused on expanding our products and services to stay in front of these trends in order to maintain and grow our business.

We benefit from advertising revenues generated from different channels, including mobile, and newer advertising formats. The margins from these channels and newer products have generally been lower than those from traditional desktop search. Additionally, as the market for a particular device type or modality matures, our advertising revenues may be affected. For example, changing dynamics within the global smartphone market, such as increased market saturation in developed countries, can affect our mobile advertising revenues.

We expect TAC paid to our distribution partners and Google Network partners to increase as our revenues grow and TAC as a percentage of our advertising revenues ("TAC rate") to be affected by changes in device mix; geographic mix; partner agreement terms; partner mix; the percentage of queries channeled through paid access points; product mix; the relative revenue growth rates of advertising revenues from different channels; and revenue share terms.

We expect these trends to continue to affect our revenues and put pressure on our margins.

•As online advertising evolves, we continue to expand our product offerings, which may affect our monetization.

As interactions between users and advertisers change, and as online user behavior evolves, for example with AI, we continue to expand our product offerings to serve these changing needs, which may affect monetization of our products and services. We expect to continue to incorporate AI innovations into our products, such as AI in Search, that could affect our monetization trends. When developing new products and services we generally focus first on user experience and then on monetization.

•As users in developing economies increasingly come online, our revenues from international markets continue to increase, and may require continued investments. In addition, movements in foreign exchange rates affect such revenues.

The shift to online, as well as the advent of the multi-device world, has brought opportunities outside of the U.S., including in emerging markets, such as India. We continue to invest heavily and develop localized versions of our products and advertising programs relevant to our users in these markets. This has led to a trend of increased

30.

revenues from emerging markets. We expect that our results will continue to be affected by our performance in these markets, particularly as low-cost mobile devices become more available. This trend could affect our revenues as developing markets initially monetize at a lower rate than more mature markets.

International revenues represent a significant portion of our revenues and are subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar. While we have a foreign exchange risk management program designed to reduce our exposure to these fluctuations, this program does not fully offset their effect on our revenues and earnings.

•The revenues that we derive beyond advertising are increasing and may adversely affect our margins.

Revenues from cloud, consumer subscriptions, platforms, and devices, which may have differing characteristics than our advertising revenues, have grown over time, and we expect this trend to continue as we focus on expanding our products and services. The margins on these revenues vary significantly and are generally lower than the margins on our advertising revenues. For example, sales of our devices adversely affect our consolidated margins due to pressures on pricing and higher cost of sales.

•As we continue to serve our users and expand our businesses, we will invest heavily in operating and capital expenditures.

We continue to make significant research and development investments in areas of strategic focus as we seek to develop new, innovative offerings, improve our existing offerings, and rapidly and responsibly deploy AI across our businesses. We also expect to increase, relative to 2024, our investment in our technical infrastructure, including servers, network equipment, and data centers, to support the growth of our business and our long-term initiatives, in particular in support of AI products and services. In addition, acquisitions and strategic investments remain important elements in our use of capital and contribute to the breadth and depth of our offerings, expand our expertise in engineering and other functional areas, and build strong partnerships around strategic initiatives.

•We continue to face an evolving regulatory environment, and we are subject to claims, lawsuits, investigations, and other forms of potential legal liability, which could affect our business practices and financial results.

Changes in social, political, economic, tax, and regulatory conditions or in laws and policies governing a wide range of topics and related legal matters, including investigations, lawsuits, and regulatory actions, have resulted in fines and caused us to change our business practices. As these global trends continue, our cost of doing business may increase, our products and services may become less useful, our ability to pursue certain business practices or offer certain products or services may be limited, and we may need to change our business models and operations to comply with evolving regulatory and legal matters. For additional information, see Part I, Item 1A Risk Factors and Legal Matters in Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

•Our employees are critical to our success and we expect to continue investing in them.

Our employees are among our best assets and are critical for our continued success. We expect to continue hiring talented employees around the globe and to provide competitive compensation programs. For additional information, see Culture and Workforce in Part I, Item 1 Business of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Revenues and Monetization Metrics

We generate revenues by delivering relevant, cost-effective online advertising; cloud-based solutions that provide enterprise customers of all sizes with infrastructure, platform services, and applications; sales of other products and services, such as fees received for subscription-based products, apps and in-app purchases, and devices. For additional information on how we recognize revenue, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In addition to the long-term trends and their financial effect on our business discussed above, fluctuations in our revenues have been and may continue to be affected by a combination of factors, including:

•changes in foreign currency exchange rates;

•changes in pricing, such as those resulting from changes in fee structures, discounts, and customer incentives;

•general economic conditions and various external dynamics, including geopolitical events, regulations, and other measures and their effect on advertiser, consumer, and enterprise spending;

•new product, service, and market launches; and

31.

•seasonality.

Additionally, fluctuations in our revenues generated from advertising ("Google advertising"), other sources ("Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices"), Google Cloud, and Other Bets have been, and may continue to be, affected by other factors unique to each set of revenues, as described below.

Google Services

Google Services revenues consist of Google advertising as well as Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues.

Google Advertising

Google advertising revenues are comprised of the following:

•Google Search & other, which includes revenues generated on Google search properties (including revenues from traffic generated by search distribution partners who use Google.com as their default search in browsers, toolbars, etc.), and other Google owned and operated properties like Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Play;

•YouTube ads, which includes revenues generated on YouTube properties; and

•Google Network, which includes revenues generated on Google Network properties participating in AdMob, AdSense, and Google Ad Manager.

We use certain metrics to track how well traffic across various properties is monetized as it relates to our advertising revenues: paid clicks and cost-per-click pertain to traffic on Google Search & other properties, while impressions and cost-per-impression pertain to traffic on our Google Network properties.

Paid clicks represent engagement by users and include clicks on advertisements by end-users on Google search properties and other Google owned and operated properties including Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Play. Cost-per-click is defined as click-driven revenues divided by our total number of paid clicks and represents the average amount we charge advertisers for each engagement by users.

Impressions include impressions displayed to users on Google Network properties participating primarily in AdMob, AdSense, and Google Ad Manager. Cost-per-impression is defined as impression-based and click-based revenues divided by our total number of impressions, and represents the average amount we charge advertisers for each impression displayed to users.

As our business evolves, we periodically review, refine, and update our methodologies for monitoring, gathering, and counting the number of paid clicks and the number of impressions, and for identifying the revenues generated by the corresponding click and impression activity.

Fluctuations in our advertising revenues, as well as the change in paid clicks and cost-per-click on Google Search & other properties and the change in impressions and cost-per-impression on Google Network properties and the correlation between these items have been, and may continue to be, affected by factors in addition to the general factors described above, such as:

•advertiser competition for keywords;

•changes in advertising quality, formats, delivery or policy;

•changes in device mix;

•seasonal fluctuations in internet usage, advertising expenditures, and underlying business trends, such as traditional retail seasonality; and

•traffic growth in emerging markets compared to more mature markets and across various verticals and channels.

Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices

Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues are comprised of the following:

•consumer subscriptions, which primarily include revenues from YouTube services, such as YouTube TV, YouTube Music and Premium, and NFL Sunday Ticket, as well as Google One;

•platforms, which primarily include revenues from Google Play sales of apps and in-app purchases;

•devices, which primarily include sales of the Pixel family of devices; and

•other products and services.

32.

Fluctuations in our Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues have been, and may continue to be, affected by factors in addition to the general factors described above, such as changes in customer usage and demand, number of subscribers, and the timing of product launches.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud revenues are comprised of the following:

•Google Cloud Platform, which generates consumption-based fees and subscriptions for infrastructure, platform, and other services. These services provide access to solutions such as AI offerings including our AI infrastructure, Vertex AI platform, and Gemini for Google Cloud; cybersecurity; and data and analytics;

•Google Workspace, which includes subscriptions for cloud-based communication and collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Calendar, Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Meet, with integrated features like Gemini for Google Workspace; and

•other enterprise services.

Fluctuations in our Google Cloud revenues have been, and may continue to be, affected by factors in addition to the general factors described above, such as changes in customer usage and demand.

Other Bets

Revenues from Other Bets are generated primarily from the sale of healthcare-related services, and internet services.

Costs and Expenses

Our cost structure has two components: cost of revenues and operating expenses. Our operating expenses include costs related to R&D, sales and marketing, and general and administrative functions. Certain of our costs and expenses, including those associated with the operation of our technical infrastructure as well as components of our operating expenses, are generally less variable in nature and may not correlate to changes in revenue. Additionally, fluctuations in employee compensation expenses may not directly correlate with changes in headcount, due to factors such as annual stock-based compensation (SBC) awards that generally vest over four years.

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues is comprised of TAC and other costs of revenues.

•TAC includes:

◦amounts paid to our distribution partners who make available our search access points and services. Our distribution partners include browser providers, mobile carriers, original equipment manufacturers, and software developers; and

◦amounts paid to Google Network partners primarily for ads displayed on their properties.

•Other cost of revenues primarily includes:

◦content acquisition costs, which are payments to content providers from whom we license video and other content for distribution, primarily related to YouTube (we pay fees to these content providers based on revenues generated, subscriber counts, or a flat fee);

◦depreciation expense related to our technical infrastructure;

◦employee compensation expenses related to our technical infrastructure and other operations such as content review and customer and product support;

◦inventory and other costs related to the devices we sell; and

◦other technical infrastructure operations costs, including network capacity, energy, and equipment costs.

TAC as a percentage of revenues generated from ads placed on Google Network properties are significantly higher than TAC as a percentage of revenues generated from ads placed on Google Search & other properties, because most of the advertiser revenues from ads served on Google Network properties are paid as TAC to our Google Network partners.

Operating Expenses

33.

Operating expenses are generally incurred during our normal course of business, which we categorize as either R&D, sales and marketing, or general and administrative.

The main components of our R&D expenses are:

•depreciation;

•employee compensation expenses for engineering and technical employees responsible for R&D related to our existing and new products and services; and

•third-party services fees primarily relating to consulting and outsourced services in support of our engineering and product development efforts.

The main components of our sales and marketing expenses are:

•employee compensation expenses for employees engaged in sales and marketing, sales support, and certain customer service functions; and

•spend relating to our advertising and promotional activities in support of our products and services.

The main components of our general and administrative expenses are:

•employee compensation expenses for employees in finance, human resources, information technology, legal, and other administrative support functions;

•expenses relating to legal and other matters, including certain fines and settlements; and

•third-party services fees, including audit, consulting, outside legal, and other outsourced administrative services.

Other Income (Expense), Net

OI&E, net primarily consists of interest income (expense), the effect of foreign currency exchange gains (losses), net gains (losses) and impairment on our marketable and non-marketable securities, performance fees, and income (loss) and impairment from our equity method investments.

For additional information, including how we account for our investments and factors that can drive fluctuations in the value of our investments, see Note 1 and Note 3 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 as well as Item 7A Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Provision for Income Taxes

Provision for income taxes represents the estimated amount of federal, state, and foreign income taxes incurred in the U.S. and the many jurisdictions in which we operate. The provision includes the effect of reserve provisions and changes to reserves that are considered appropriate as well as the related net interest and penalties.

For additional information, including a reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory rate to our effective tax rate, see Note 14 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

34.

Executive Overview

The following table summarizes our consolidated financial results (in millions, except for per share information and percentages):

(1)    See "Use of Non-GAAP Constant Currency Information" below for details relating to our use of constant currency information.

(2)    For additional information on the calculation of diluted EPS, see Note 12 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

•Revenues were $350.0 billion, an increase of 14% year over year, primarily driven by an increase in Google Services revenues of $32.4 billion, or 12%, and an increase in Google Cloud revenues of $10.1 billion, or 31%.

•Total constant currency revenues, which exclude the effect of hedging, increased 15% year over year.

•Cost of revenues was $146.3 billion, an increase of 10% year over year, primarily driven by increases in content acquisition costs, TAC, and depreciation expense.

•Operating expenses were $91.3 billion, an increase of 2% year over year, primarily driven by increases in depreciation expense, employee compensation expenses, and third-party services fees. These increases were partially offset by reductions in charges related to legal and other matters and charges related to our office space optimization efforts. The overall increase in employee compensation expenses was partially offset by a reduction in employee severance and related charges.

Other Information:

•Dividend payments to stockholders of Class A, Class B, and Class C shares, which were first paid in June 2024, were $3.5 billion, $519 million, and $3.3 billion, respectively, totaling $7.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2024. For additional information, see Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

•Repurchases of Class A and Class C shares were $11.9 billion and $50.2 billion, respectively, totaling $62.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2024. For additional information, see Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

•Employee severance and related charges for the year ended December 31, 2024 were $1.0 billion, a decrease of $1.1 billion as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. Office space charges, including accelerated rent and accelerated depreciation, for the year ended December 31, 2024 were $796 million, a decrease of $1.3 billion as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023. Substantially all of these charges were included in Alphabet-level activities.

•Operating cash flow was $125.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2024.

•Capital expenditures, which primarily reflected investments in technical infrastructure, were $52.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2024.

•As of December 31, 2024, we had 183,323 employees.

35.

Financial Results

Revenues

The following table presents revenues by type (in millions):

Google Services

Google advertising revenues

Google Search & other

Google Search & other revenues increased $23.1 billion from 2023 to 2024. The overall growth was driven by interrelated factors including increases in search queries resulting from growth in user adoption and usage on mobile devices; growth in advertiser spending; and improvements we have made in ad formats and delivery.

YouTube ads

YouTube ads revenues increased $4.6 billion from 2023 to 2024. The growth was driven by our brand advertising products followed by our direct response advertising products, both of which benefited from increased spending by our advertisers.

Google Network

Google Network revenues decreased $953 million from 2023 to 2024, primarily driven by a decrease in Google Ad Manager and AdMob revenues. Additionally, Google Network revenues were adversely affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Monetization Metrics

The following table presents changes in monetization metrics for Google Search & other revenues (paid clicks and cost-per-click) and Google Network revenues (impressions and cost-per-impression), expressed as a percentage, from 2023 to 2024:

Changes in paid clicks and impressions are driven by a number of interrelated factors, including changes in advertiser spending; ongoing product and policy changes; and, as it relates to paid clicks, fluctuations in search queries resulting from changes in user adoption and usage, primarily on mobile devices.

Changes in cost-per-click and cost-per-impression are driven by a number of interrelated factors including changes in device mix, geographic mix, advertiser spending, ongoing product and policy changes, product mix, property mix, and changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

36.

Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices

Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues increased $5.7 billion from 2023 to 2024. The growth was primarily driven by an increase in subscription revenues, largely from growth in the number of paid subscribers for YouTube services followed by Google One.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud revenues increased $10.1 billion from 2023 to 2024 primarily driven by growth in Google Cloud Platform largely from infrastructure services.

Revenues by Geography

The following table presents revenues by geography as a percentage of revenues, determined based on the addresses of our customers:

For additional information, see Note 2 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Use of Non-GAAP Constant Currency Information

International revenues, which represent a significant portion of our revenues, are generally transacted in multiple currencies and therefore are affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

The effect of currency exchange rates on our business is an important factor in understanding period-to-period comparisons. We use non-GAAP constant currency revenues ("constant currency revenues") and non-GAAP percentage change in constant currency revenues ("percentage change in constant currency revenues") for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. We believe the presentation of results on a constant currency basis in addition to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) results helps improve the ability to understand our performance, because it excludes the effects of foreign currency volatility that are not indicative of our core operating results.

Constant currency information compares results between periods as if exchange rates had remained constant period over period. We define constant currency revenues as revenues excluding the effect of foreign currency exchange rate movements ("FX Effect") as well as hedging activities, which are recognized at the consolidated level. We use constant currency revenues to determine the constant currency revenue percentage change on a year-on-year basis. Constant currency revenues are calculated by translating current period revenues using prior year comparable period exchange rates, as well as excluding any hedging effects realized in the current period.

Constant currency revenue percentage change is calculated by determining the change in current period revenues over prior year comparable period revenues where current period foreign currency revenues are translated using prior year comparable period exchange rates and hedging effects are excluded from revenues of both periods.

These results should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, results reported in accordance with GAAP. Results on a constant currency basis, as we present them, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies and are not a measure of performance presented in accordance with GAAP.

37.

The following table presents the foreign currency exchange effect on international revenues and total revenues (in millions, except percentages):

(1)Total constant currency revenues of $352.7 billion for 2024 increased $45.6 billion compared to $307.2 billion in revenues, excluding hedging effect, for 2023.

EMEA revenue growth was not materially affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, as the effect of the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Turkish lira was offset by the U.S. dollar weakening relative to the British pound and the euro.

APAC revenue growth was unfavorably affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Japanese yen.

Other Americas revenue growth was unfavorably affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Argentine peso and the Brazilian real.

Costs and Expenses

Cost of Revenues

The following table presents cost of revenues, including TAC (in millions, except percentages):

Cost of revenues increased $13.0 billion from 2023 to 2024 due to an increase in other cost of revenues and TAC of $9.0 billion and $4.0 billion, respectively.

The increase in TAC from 2023 to 2024 was largely due to an increase in TAC paid to distribution partners, primarily driven by growth in revenues subject to TAC. The TAC rate decreased from 21.4% to 20.7% from 2023 to 2024 primarily due to a revenue mix shift from Google Network properties to Google Search & other properties. The TAC rate on Google Search & other revenues increased from 2023 to 2024 primarily due to increases related to mobile searches, which carries higher TAC because more mobile searches are channeled through paid access points. The TAC rate on Google Network revenues was substantially consistent from 2023 to 2024.

The increase in other cost of revenues from 2023 to 2024 was primarily due to increases in content acquisition costs, largely for YouTube, depreciation expense, and other technical infrastructure operations costs.

Research and Development

The following table presents R&D expenses (in millions, except percentages):

38.

R&D expenses increased $3.9 billion from 2023 to 2024, primarily driven by increases in employee compensation expenses of $1.5 billion, depreciation expense of $1.4 billion, and third-party services fees of $698 million, partially offset by a reduction in charges related to our office space optimization efforts of $640 million. The increase in employee compensation expenses was primarily driven by a $1.3 billion increase in SBC expenses, which includes the reduction in valuation-based compensation liabilities related to certain Other Bets recognized in the prior year comparable period, partially offset by a $537 million decrease in severance and related charges.

Sales and Marketing

The following table presents sales and marketing expenses (in millions, except percentages):

Sales and marketing expenses decreased $109 million from 2023 to 2024, due to a combination of factors, none of which were individually significant.

General and Administrative

The following table presents general and administrative expenses (in millions, except percentages):

General and administrative expenses decreased $2.2 billion from 2023 to 2024, primarily driven by a reduction in charges related to legal and other matters of $1.3 billion and a decrease in employee compensation expenses of $285 million, primarily due to a decrease in average headcount, in addition to a combination of factors, none of which were individually significant.

Segment Profitability

We report our segment results as Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. Additionally, certain costs are not allocated to our segments because they represent Alphabet-level activities. For further details on our segments, see Part I, Item 1 Business and Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The following table presents segment operating income (loss) (in millions).

(1)In addition to the costs included in Alphabet-level activities, hedging gains (losses) related to revenue were $236 million and $211 million in 2023 and 2024, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2024, Alphabet-level activities included substantially all of the charges related to employee severance and our office space charges.

39.

Google Services

Google Services operating income increased $25.4 billion from 2023 to 2024. The increase in operating income was primarily driven by an increase in revenues, partially offset by increases in content acquisition costs and TAC. Additionally, a reduction in employee compensation expenses contributed to the increase in operating income.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud operating income increased $4.4 billion from 2023 to 2024. The increase in operating income was primarily driven by an increase in revenues, partially offset by increases in usage costs for technical infrastructure as well as employee compensation expenses, largely driven by headcount growth.

Other Bets

Other Bets operating loss increased $349 million from 2023 to 2024. The increase in operating loss was primarily due to an increase in expenses, largely driven by employee compensation expenses in addition to a combination of factors, none of which were individually significant. The increase in employee compensation expenses was primarily as a result of the reduction in valuation-based compensation liabilities related to certain Other Bets recognized in the prior year comparable period.

Other Income (Expense), Net

The following table presents OI&E, (in millions):

OI&E, net increased $6.0 billion from 2023 to 2024 primarily due to an increase in net gains on equity securities and a decrease in net losses on foreign currency exchange. The net gains on equity securities were primarily due to net unrealized gains on non-marketable equity securities driven by fair value adjustments related to observable transactions, partially offset by a decrease in net unrealized gains on marketable equity securities due to market-driven changes. Foreign currency exchange net losses decreased compared to the prior year primarily due to prior year losses in unhedged currencies.

In January 2025, we recognized an $8.0 billion unrealized gain on our non-marketable equity securities related to our investment in a private company. The unrealized gain reflects an increase in the fair value measurement of our investment following an observable transaction in January 2025.

For additional information, see Note 3 and Note 7 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Provision for Income Taxes

The following table presents provision for income taxes (in millions, except effective tax rate):

The effective tax rate increased from 2023 to 2024. This increase was primarily due to a one-time adjustment for tax rule changes issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that affected the 2023 rate related to U.S. federal foreign tax credits, as well as a separate rule change with guidance on the capitalization and amortization of R&D

40.

expenses. Additionally, a decrease in the 2024 U.S. federal Foreign Derived Intangible Income tax deduction contributed to an increase in the effective tax rate. These factors were partially offset by an increase in stock-based compensation-related tax benefits in 2024.

The OECD is coordinating negotiations among more than 140 countries with the goal of achieving consensus around substantial changes to international tax policies, including the implementation of a minimum global effective tax rate of 15%. Some countries have already implemented the legislation effective January 1, 2024, and we expect others to follow, however this did not have a material effect on our income tax provision for the 2024 fiscal year.

Financial Condition

Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Marketable Securities

As of December 31, 2024, we had $95.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term marketable securities. Cash equivalents and marketable securities are comprised of time deposits, money market funds, highly liquid government bonds, corporate debt securities, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, and marketable equity securities.

Sources, Uses of Cash and Related Trends

Our principal sources of liquidity are cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, as well as the cash flow that we generate from operations. The primary use of capital continues to be to invest for the long-term growth of the business. We regularly evaluate our cash and capital structure, including the size, pace, and form of capital return to stockholders.

The following table presents our cash flows (in millions):

Cash Provided by Operating Activities

Our largest source of cash provided by operations are advertising revenues generated by Google Search & other properties, Google Network properties, and YouTube properties. In Google Services, we also generate cash through consumer subscriptions, the sale of apps and in-app purchases, and devices. In Google Cloud, we generate cash through consumption-based fees and subscriptions for infrastructure, platform, applications, and other cloud services.

Our primary uses of cash from operating activities include payments to distribution and Google Network partners, to employees for compensation, and to content providers. Other uses of cash from operating activities include payments to suppliers for devices, to tax authorities for income taxes, and other general corporate expenditures.

Net cash provided by operating activities increased from 2023 to 2024 due to an increase in cash received from customers, partially offset by an increase in cash payments for cost of revenues and operating expenses.

Cash Used in Investing Activities

Cash provided by investing activities consists primarily of maturities and sales of investments in marketable and non-marketable securities. Cash used in investing activities consists primarily of purchases of marketable and non-marketable securities, purchases of property and equipment, and payments for acquisitions.

Net cash used in investing activities increased from 2023 to 2024 primarily due to an increase in purchases of property and equipment and purchases of marketable securities, partially offset by increases in maturities and sales of marketable securities. The increase in purchases of property and equipment is primarily driven by investments in technical infrastructure.

Cash Used in Financing Activities

Cash provided by financing activities consists primarily of proceeds from issuance of debt and proceeds from the sale of interests in consolidated entities. Cash used in financing activities consists primarily of repurchases of stock, net payments related to stock-based award activities, payment of dividends, and repayments of debt.

Net cash used in financing activities increased from 2023 to 2024 due to dividend payments and net payments related to stock-based award activities, partially offset by an increase in proceeds from issuance of debt, net of repayments.

41.

Liquidity and Material Cash Requirements

We expect existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term marketable securities, and cash flows from operations and financing activities to continue to be sufficient to fund our operating activities and cash commitments for investing and financing activities for at least the next 12 months, and thereafter for the foreseeable future.

Capital Expenditures and Leases

We make investments in land, buildings, and servers and network equipment through purchases of property and equipment and lease arrangements to provide capacity for the growth of our services and products.

Capital Expenditures

Our capital investments in property and equipment consist primarily of the following major categories:

•technical infrastructure, which consists of our investments in servers and network equipment for computing, storage, and networking requirements for ongoing business activities, including AI, and data center land and building construction; and

•office facilities, ground-up development projects, and building improvements (also referred to as "fit-outs").

Assets not yet in service are those that are not ready for our intended use, including assets in the process of construction or assembly, and consists primarily of technical infrastructure. The time frame from date of purchase to placement in service of these assets may extend from months to years. For example, our data center construction projects are generally multi-year projects with multiple phases, where we acquire land and buildings, construct buildings, and secure and install servers and network equipment.

During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2024, we spent $32.3 billion and $52.5 billion on capital expenditures, respectively. We expect to increase, relative to 2024, our investment in our technical infrastructure, including servers, network equipment, and data centers, to support the growth of our business and our long-term initiatives, in particular in support of AI products and services. Depreciation of our property and equipment commences when the deployment of such assets are completed and are ready for our intended use. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2024, our depreciation on property and equipment was $11.9 billion and $15.3 billion, respectively.

Leases

For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2024, we recognized additional operating lease assets of $2.9 billion and $2.5 billion, and additional finance lease assets of $564 million and $313 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2024, the amount of total future lease payments under operating leases, which had a weighted average remaining lease term of 7.8 years, was $17.0 billion, of which $3.2 billion is short-term, and total future lease payments under finance leases, which had a weighted average remaining lease term of 10.4 years, was $1.9 billion, of which $257 million is short-term. As of December 31, 2024, we have entered into leases that have not yet commenced with future short-term and long-term lease payments of $773 million and $6.5 billion, respectively, that are not yet recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. These leases will commence between 2025 and 2028 with non-cancelable lease terms of one to 25 years.

For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2024, our operating lease expenses (including variable lease costs) were $4.5 billion and $4.7 billion, respectively. Finance lease costs were $504 million and $444 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2024, respectively. For additional information, see Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Financing

We have a short-term debt financing program of up to $10.0 billion through the issuance of commercial paper. Net proceeds from this program are used for general corporate purposes. As of December 31, 2024, we had $2.3 billion of short-term commercial paper outstanding.

As of December 31, 2024, we had senior unsecured notes outstanding with a total carrying value of $11.9 billion with short-term and long-term future interest payments of $197 million and $3.4 billion, respectively.

As of December 31, 2024, we had $10.0 billion of revolving credit facilities, $4.0 billion expiring in April 2025 and $6.0 billion expiring in April 2028. The interest rates for all credit facilities are determined based on a formula using certain market rates, as well as our progress toward the achievement of certain sustainability goals. No amounts have been borrowed under the credit facilities. For additional information, see Note 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

42.

We primarily utilize contract manufacturers for the assembly of our servers used in our technical infrastructure and devices we sell. We have agreements where we may purchase components directly from suppliers and then supply these components to contract manufacturers for use in the assembly of the servers and devices. Certain of these arrangements result in a portion of the cash received from and paid to the contract manufacturers to be presented as financing activities in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Share Repurchase Program

During 2024, we repurchased and subsequently retired 379 million shares for $62.0 billion.

In April 2024, the Board of Directors of Alphabet authorized the company to repurchase up to an additional $70.0 billion of its Class A and Class C shares. As of December 31, 2024, $44.7 billion remained available for Class A and Class C share repurchases.

The following table presents Class A and Class C shares repurchased and subsequently retired (in millions):

(1) Shares repurchased include unsettled repurchases.

For additional information, see Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Dividend Program

During the year ended December 31, 2024 total cash dividends, which were first paid in June 2024, were $3.5 billion, $519 million, and $3.3 billion for Class A, Class B, and Class C shares, respectively.

The company intends to pay quarterly cash dividends in the future, subject to review and approval by the company’s Board of Directors in its sole discretion.

European Commission Fines

In 2017, 2018, and 2019, the European Commission (EC) announced decisions that certain actions taken by Google infringed European competition law and imposed fines of €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion as of June 27, 2017), €4.3 billion ($5.1 billion as of June 30, 2018), and €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion as of March 20, 2019), respectively.

In September 2022, the General Court affirmed the EC decision but reduced the 2018 fine from €4.3 billion to €4.1 billion. We subsequently appealed the General Court's affirmation of the EC decision with the European Court of Justice, which remains pending.

In September 2024, the European Court of Justice rejected our appeal of the 2017 decision and upheld the €2.4 billion fine. In the third quarter of 2024, we made a cash payment of $3.0 billion for the 2017 shopping fine.

In September 2024, the EU's General Court overturned the 2019 decision and annulled the €1.5 billion fine. The EC has appealed the General Court's decision to the European Court of Justice.

We included the outstanding EC fines, including any under appeal, in accrued expenses and other current liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. For additional information, see Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Taxes

As of December 31, 2024, we had income taxes payable of $2.7 billion related to a one-time transition tax payable incurred as a result of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which is due in 2025. We also had long-term taxes payable of $8.8 billion primarily related to uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2024.

Purchase Commitments and Other Contractual Obligations

As of December 31, 2024, we had material purchase commitments and other contractual obligations of $55.4 billion, of which $32.5 billion was short-term. These amounts primarily consist of purchase orders for certain technical infrastructure as well as the non-cancelable portion or the minimum cancellation fee in certain agreements related to commitments to purchase licenses, including content licenses, inventory, and network capacity. For those agreements

43.

with variable terms, we do not estimate the non-cancelable obligation beyond any minimum quantities and/or pricing as of December 31, 2024. In certain instances, the amount of our contractual obligations may change based on the expected timing of order fulfillment from our suppliers. For more information related to our content licenses, see Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In addition, we regularly enter into multi-year, non-cancellable agreements to purchase renewable energy and energy attributes, such as renewable energy certificates. These agreements do not include a minimum dollar commitment. The amounts to be paid under these agreements are based on the actual volumes to be generated and are not readily determinable.

Critical Accounting Estimates

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. In doing so, we have to make estimates and assumptions. Our critical accounting estimates are those estimates that involve a significant level of uncertainty at the time the estimate was made, and changes in them have had or are reasonably likely to have a material effect on our financial condition or results of operations. Accordingly, actual results could differ materially from our estimates. We base our estimates on past experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, and we evaluate these estimates on an ongoing basis. We have reviewed our critical accounting estimates with the Audit and Compliance Committee of our Board of Directors.

For a summary of significant accounting policies and the effect on our financial statements, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Fair Value Measurements of Non-Marketable Equity Securities

We measure certain financial instruments at fair value on a nonrecurring basis, consisting primarily of our non-marketable equity securities. These investments are accounted for under the measurement alternative method ("the measurement alternative") and are measured at cost, less impairment, subject to upward and downward adjustments resulting from observable price changes for identical or similar investments of the same issuer. These adjustments require quantitative assessments of the fair value of our securities, which may require the use of unobservable inputs. Adjustments are determined primarily based on a market approach as of the transaction date and involve the use of estimates using the best information available, which may include cash flow projections or other available market data.

Non-marketable equity securities are also evaluated for impairment, based on qualitative factors including the companies' financial and liquidity position and access to capital resources, among others. When indicators of impairment exist, we prepare quantitative measurements of the fair value of our equity investments using a market approach or an income approach, which requires judgment and the use of unobservable inputs, including discount rates, investee revenues and costs, and comparable market data of private and public companies, among others. When the quantitative remeasurements of fair value indicate an impairment exists, we write down the investment to its current fair value.

We also have compensation arrangements with payouts based on realized returns from certain investments, i.e. performance fees. We record compensation expense based on the estimated payouts on an ongoing basis, which may result in expense recognized before investment returns are realized and compensation is paid and may require the use of unobservable inputs.

Property and Equipment

We assess the reasonableness of the useful lives of our property and equipment periodically as well as when other changes occur, such as when there are changes to ongoing business operations, changes in the planned use and utilization of assets, or technological advancements, that could indicate a change in the period over which we expect to benefit from the asset.

Income Taxes

We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our uncertain tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes.

Recording an uncertain tax position involves various qualitative considerations, including evaluation of comparable and resolved tax exposures, applicability of tax laws, and likelihood of settlement. We evaluate uncertain tax positions periodically, considering changes in facts and circumstances, such as new regulations or recent judicial opinions, as well as the status of audit activities by taxing authorities. Although we believe we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions, no assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such

44.

differences will affect the provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate in the period in which such determination is made.

The provision for income taxes includes the effect of reserve provisions and changes to reserves as well as the related net interest and penalties. In addition, we are subject to the continuous examination of our income tax returns by the IRS and other tax authorities which may assert assessments against us. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations and assessments to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes.

Loss Contingencies

We are subject to claims, lawsuits, regulatory and government inquiries and investigations, other proceedings, and consent orders involving competition, intellectual property, data privacy and security, tax and related compliance, labor and employment, commercial disputes, content generated by our users, goods and services offered by advertisers or publishers using our platforms, personal injury, consumer protection, and other matters. Certain of these matters include speculative claims for substantial or indeterminate amounts of damages. We record a liability when we believe that it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. If we determine that a loss is reasonably possible and the loss or range of loss can be estimated, we disclose the possible loss in Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We evaluate, on a regular basis, developments in our legal matters that could affect the amount of liability that has been previously accrued, and the matters and related reasonably possible losses disclosed, and make adjustments and changes to our disclosures. Significant judgment is required to determine both the likelihood and the estimated amount of a loss related to such matters. Until the final resolution of such matters, there may be an exposure to loss in excess of the amount recorded, and such amounts could be material.

ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Please read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with “Note about Forward-Looking Statements,” Part I, Item 1 "Business," Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors," and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The following section generally discusses 2023 results compared to 2022 results. Discussion of 2022 results compared to 2021 results to the extent not included in this report can be found in Item 7 of our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Understanding Alphabet’s Financial Results

Alphabet is a collection of businesses — the largest of which is Google. We report Google in two segments, Google Services and Google Cloud; we also report all non-Google businesses collectively as Other Bets. For additional information on our segments, see Part I, Item 1 Business and Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Trends in Our Business and Financial Effect

The following long-term trends have contributed to the results of our consolidated operations, and we anticipate that they will continue to affect our future results:

•Users' behaviors and advertising continue to shift online as the digital economy evolves.

The continuing evolution of the online world has contributed to the growth of our business and our revenues since inception. We expect that this evolution will continue to benefit our business and our revenues, although at a slower pace than we have experienced historically, in particular after the outsized growth in our advertising revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we face increasing competition for user engagement and advertisers, which may affect our revenues.

•Users continue to access our products and services using diverse devices and modalities, which allows for new advertising formats that may benefit our revenues but adversely affect our margins.

Our users are accessing our products and services via diverse devices and modalities, such as smartphones, wearables, connected TVs, and smart home devices, and want to be able to be connected no matter where they are or what they are doing. We are focused on expanding our products and services to stay in front of these trends in order to maintain and grow our business.

We benefit from advertising revenues generated from different channels, including mobile, and newer advertising formats. The margins from these channels and newer products have generally been lower than those from traditional desktop search. Additionally, as the market for a particular device type or modality matures, our advertising revenues may be affected. For example, changing dynamics within the global smartphone market, such as increased market saturation in developed countries, can affect our mobile advertising revenues.

We expect TAC paid to our distribution partners and Google Network partners to increase as our revenues grow and TAC as a percentage of our advertising revenues ("TAC rate") to be affected by changes in device mix; geographic mix; partner agreement terms; partner mix; the percentage of queries channeled through paid access points; product mix; the relative revenue growth rates of advertising revenues from different channels; and revenue share terms.

We expect these trends to continue to affect our revenues and put pressure on our margins.

•As online advertising evolves, we continue to expand our product offerings, which may affect our monetization.

As interactions between users and advertisers change, and as online user behavior evolves, we continue to expand our product offerings to serve these changing needs, which may affect our monetization. For example, revenues from ads on YouTube and Google Play monetize at a lower rate than our traditional search ads. We also expect to continue to incorporate AI innovations into our products, such as AI in Search, that could affect our monetization trends. When developing new products and services we generally focus first on user experience and then on monetization.

•As users in developing economies increasingly come online, our revenues from international markets continue to increase, and may require continued investments. In addition, movements in foreign exchange rates affect such revenues.

29.

The shift to online, as well as the advent of the multi-device world, has brought opportunities outside of the U.S., including in emerging markets, such as India. We continue to invest heavily and develop localized versions of our products and advertising programs relevant to our users in these markets. This has led to a trend of increased revenues from emerging markets. We expect that our results will continue to be affected by our performance in these markets, particularly as low-cost mobile devices become more available. This trend could affect our revenues as developing markets initially monetize at a lower rate than more mature markets.

International revenues represent a significant portion of our revenues and are subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar. While we have a foreign exchange risk management program designed to reduce our exposure to these fluctuations, this program does not fully offset their effect on our revenues and earnings.

•The revenues that we derive beyond advertising are increasing and may adversely affect our margins.

Revenues from cloud, consumer subscriptions, platforms, and devices, which may have differing characteristics than our advertising revenues, have grown over time, and we expect this trend to continue as we focus on expanding our products and services. The margins on these revenues vary significantly and are generally lower than the margins on our advertising revenues. For example, sales of our devices adversely affect our consolidated margins due to pressures on pricing and higher cost of sales.

•As we continue to serve our users and expand our businesses, we will invest heavily in operating and capital expenditures.

We continue to make significant research and development investments in areas of strategic focus as we seek to develop new, innovative offerings, improve our existing offerings, and rapidly and responsibly deploy AI across our businesses. We also expect to increase, relative to 2023, our investment in our technical infrastructure, including servers, network equipment, and data centers, to support the growth of our business and our long-term initiatives, in particular in support of AI products and services. In addition, acquisitions and strategic investments contribute to the breadth and depth of our offerings, expand our expertise in engineering and other functional areas, and build strong partnerships around strategic initiatives.

•We continue to face an evolving regulatory environment, and we are subject to claims, lawsuits, investigations, and other forms of potential legal liability, which could affect our business practices and financial results.

Changes in social, political, economic, tax, and regulatory conditions or in laws and policies governing a wide range of topics and related legal matters, including investigations, lawsuits, and regulatory actions, have resulted in fines and caused us to change our business practices. As these global trends continue, our cost of doing business may increase, our ability to pursue certain business models or offer certain products or services may be limited, and we may need to change our business practices to comply with evolving regulatory and legal matters. Examples include the antitrust complaints filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and a number of state Attorneys General; legislative proposals and pending litigation in the U.S., EU, and around the world that could diminish or eliminate safe harbor protection for websites and online platforms; and the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act in Europe and various legislative proposals in the U.S. focused on large technology platforms. For additional information, see Item 1A Risk Factors and Legal Matters in Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

•Our employees are critical to our success and we expect to continue investing in them.

Our employees are among our best assets and are critical for our continued success. We expect to continue hiring talented employees around the globe and to provide competitive compensation programs. For additional information, see Culture and Workforce in Part I, Item 1 Business of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Revenues and Monetization Metrics

We generate revenues by delivering relevant, cost-effective online advertising; cloud-based solutions that provide enterprise customers of all sizes with infrastructure and platform services as well as communication and collaboration tools; sales of other products and services, such as apps and in-app purchases, and devices; and fees received for consumer subscription-based products. For additional information on how we recognize revenue, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In addition to the long-term trends and their financial effect on our business discussed above, fluctuations in our revenues have been, and may continue to be, affected by a combination of general factors, including:

•changes in foreign currency exchange rates;

30.

•changes in pricing, such as those resulting from changes in fee structures, discounts, and customer incentives;

•general economic conditions and various external dynamics, including geopolitical events, regulations, and other measures and their effect on advertiser, consumer, and enterprise spending;

•new product and service launches; and

•seasonality.

Additionally, fluctuations in our revenues generated from advertising ("Google advertising"), revenues from other sources ("Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues"), Google Cloud, and Other Bets revenues have been, and may continue to be, affected by other factors unique to each set of revenues, as described below.

Google Services

Google Services revenues consist of Google advertising as well as Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues.

Google Advertising

Google advertising revenues are comprised of the following:

•Google Search & other, which includes revenues generated on Google search properties (including revenues from traffic generated by search distribution partners who use Google.com as their default search in browsers, toolbars, etc.), and other Google owned and operated properties like Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Play;

•YouTube ads, which includes revenues generated on YouTube properties; and

•Google Network, which includes revenues generated on Google Network properties participating in AdMob, AdSense, and Google Ad Manager.

We use certain metrics to track how well traffic across various properties is monetized as it relates to our advertising revenues: paid clicks and cost-per-click pertain to traffic on Google Search & other properties, while impressions and cost-per-impression pertain to traffic on our Google Network properties.

Paid clicks represent engagement by users and include clicks on advertisements by end-users on Google search properties and other Google owned and operated properties including Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Play. Cost-per-click is defined as click-driven revenues divided by our total number of paid clicks and represents the average amount we charge advertisers for each engagement by users.

Impressions include impressions displayed to users on Google Network properties participating primarily in AdMob, AdSense, and Google Ad Manager. Cost-per-impression is defined as impression-based and click-based revenues divided by our total number of impressions, and represents the average amount we charge advertisers for each impression displayed to users.

As our business evolves, we periodically review, refine, and update our methodologies for monitoring, gathering, and counting the number of paid clicks and the number of impressions, and for identifying the revenues generated by the corresponding click and impression activity.

Fluctuations in our advertising revenues, as well as the change in paid clicks and cost-per-click on Google Search & other properties and the change in impressions and cost-per-impression on Google Network properties and the correlation between these items have been, and may continue to be, affected by factors in addition to the general factors described above, such as:

•advertiser competition for keywords;

•changes in advertising quality, formats, delivery or policy;

•changes in device mix;

•seasonal fluctuations in internet usage, advertising expenditures, and underlying business trends, such as traditional retail seasonality; and

•traffic growth in emerging markets compared to more mature markets and across various verticals and channels.

31.

Google Subscriptions, Platforms, and Devices

Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues are comprised of the following:

•consumer subscriptions, which primarily include revenues from YouTube services, such YouTube TV, YouTube Music and Premium, and NFL Sunday Ticket, as well as Google One;

•platforms, which primarily include revenues from Google Play from the sales of apps and in-app purchases;

•devices, which primarily include sales of the Pixel family of devices; and

•other products and services.

Fluctuations in our Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues have been, and may continue to be, affected by factors in addition to the general factors described above, such as changes in customer usage and demand, number of subscribers, and fluctuations in the timing of product launches.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud revenues are comprised of the following:

•Google Cloud Platform, which generates consumption-based fees and subscriptions for infrastructure, platform, and other services. These services provide access to solutions such as cybersecurity, databases, analytics, and AI offerings including our AI infrastructure, Vertex AI platform, and Duet AI for Google Cloud;

•Google Workspace, which includes subscriptions for cloud-based communication and collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Calendar, Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Meet, with integrated features like Duet AI in Google Workspace; and

•other enterprise services.

Fluctuations in our Google Cloud revenues have been, and may continue to be, affected by factors in addition to the general factors described above, such as customer usage.

Other Bets

Revenues from Other Bets are generated primarily from the sale of healthcare-related services and internet services.

Costs and Expenses

Our cost structure has two components: cost of revenues and operating expenses. Our operating expenses include costs related to R&D, sales and marketing, and general and administrative functions. Certain of our costs and expenses, including those associated with the operation of our technical infrastructure as well as components of our operating expenses, are generally less variable in nature and may not correlate to changes in revenue. Additionally, fluctuations in compensation expenses may not directly correlate with changes in headcount, in particular due to annual stock-based compensation (SBC) awards that generally vest over four years.

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues is comprised of TAC and other costs of revenues.

•TAC includes:

◦amounts paid to our distribution partners who make available our search access points and services. Our distribution partners include browser providers, mobile carriers, original equipment manufacturers, and software developers; and

◦amounts paid to Google Network partners primarily for ads displayed on their properties.

•Other cost of revenues primarily includes:

◦compensation expense related to our data centers and other operations such as content review and customer and product support;

◦content acquisition costs, which are payments to content providers from whom we license video and other content for distribution on YouTube and Google Play (we pay fees to these content providers based on revenues generated or a flat fee);

◦depreciation expense related to our technical infrastructure; and

◦inventory and other costs related to the devices we sell.

32.

TAC as a percentage of revenues generated from ads placed on Google Network properties are significantly higher than TAC as a percentage of revenues generated from ads placed on Google Search & other properties, because most of the advertiser revenues from ads served on Google Network properties are paid as TAC to our Google Network partners.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses are generally incurred during our normal course of business, which we categorize as either R&D, sales and marketing, or general and administrative.

The main components of our R&D expenses are:

•compensation expenses for engineering and technical employees responsible for R&D related to our existing and new products and services;

•depreciation; and

•third-party services fees primarily relating to consulting and outsourced services in support of our engineering and product development efforts.

The main components of our sales and marketing expenses are:

•compensation expenses for employees engaged in sales and marketing, sales support, and certain customer service functions; and

•spending relating to our advertising and promotional activities in support of our products and services.

The main components of our general and administrative expenses are:

•compensation expenses for employees in finance, human resources, information technology, legal, and other administrative support functions;

•expenses relating to legal matters, including certain fines and settlements; and

•third-party services fees, including audit, consulting, outside legal, and other outsourced administrative services.

Other Income (Expense), Net

OI&E, net primarily consists of interest income (expense), the effect of foreign currency exchange gains (losses), net gains (losses) and impairment on our marketable and non-marketable securities, performance fees, and income (loss) and impairment from our equity method investments.

For additional information, including how we account for our investments and factors that can drive fluctuations in the value of our investments, see Note 1 and Note 3 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 as well as Item 7A Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Provision for Income Taxes

Provision for income taxes represents the estimated amount of federal, state, and foreign income taxes incurred in the U.S. and the many jurisdictions in which we operate. The provision includes the effect of reserve provisions and changes to reserves that are considered appropriate as well as the related net interest and penalties.

For additional information, including a reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory rate to our effective tax rate, see Note 14 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

33.

Executive Overview

The following table summarizes our consolidated financial results (in millions, except for per share information and percentages):

NM = Not Meaningful

(1)    See "Use of Non-GAAP Constant Currency Information" below for details relating to our use of constant currency information.

•Revenues were $307.4 billion, an increase of 9% year over year, primarily driven by an increase in Google Services revenues of $19.0 billion, or 8%, and an increase in Google Cloud revenues of $6.8 billion, or 26%.

•Total constant currency revenues, which exclude the effect of hedging, increased 10% year over year.

•Cost of revenues was $133.3 billion, an increase of 6% year over year, primarily driven by increases in content acquisition costs, compensation expenses, and TAC. The increase in compensation expenses included charges related to employee severance associated with the reduction in our workforce. Additionally, cost of revenues benefited from a reduction in depreciation due to the change in estimated useful lives of our servers and network equipment.

•Operating expenses were $89.8 billion, an increase of 10% year over year, primarily driven by an increase in compensation expenses and charges related to our office space optimization efforts. The increase in compensation expenses was largely the result of charges related to employee severance associated with the reduction in our workforce and an increase in SBC expense. Operating expenses benefited from the change in the estimated useful lives of our servers and certain network equipment.

Other Information:

•In January 2023, we announced a reduction of our workforce, and as a result we recorded employee severance and related charges of $2.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023. In addition, we are taking actions to optimize our global office space. As a result, exit charges recorded during the year ended December 31, 2023, were $1.8 billion. In addition to these exit charges, for the year ended December 31, 2023, we incurred $269 million in accelerated rent and accelerated depreciation. For additional information, see Note 8 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

•In January 2023, we completed an assessment of the useful lives of our servers and network equipment, resulting in a change in the estimated useful life of our servers and certain network equipment to six years. The effect of this change was a reduction in depreciation expense of $3.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023, recognized primarily in cost of revenues and R&D expenses. For additional information, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

34.

•On July 21, 2023, the IRS announced a rule change allowing taxpayers to temporarily apply the regulations in effect prior to 2022 related to U.S. federal foreign tax credits. This announcement applies to foreign taxes paid or accrued in the fiscal years 2022 and 2023. A cumulative one-time adjustment applicable to the prior period for this tax rule change was recorded in 2023 and is reflected in our effective tax rate of 13.9% for the year ended December 31, 2023.

•Repurchases of Class A and Class C shares were $62.2 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023. For additional information, see Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

•Operating cash flow was $101.7 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023.

•Capital expenditures, which primarily reflected investments in technical infrastructure, were $32.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023.

•As of December 31, 2023, we had 182,502 employees.

Financial Results

Revenues

The following table presents revenues by type (in millions):

Google Services

Google advertising revenues

Google Search & other

Google Search & other revenues increased $12.6 billion from 2022 to 2023. The overall growth was driven by interrelated factors including increases in search queries resulting from growth in user adoption and usage on mobile devices; growth in advertiser spending; and improvements we have made in ad formats and delivery.

YouTube ads

YouTube ads revenues increased $2.3 billion from 2022 to 2023. The growth was driven by our brand and direct response advertising products, both of which benefited from increased spending by our advertisers.

Google Network

Google Network revenues decreased $1.5 billion from 2022 to 2023, primarily driven by a decrease in Google Ad Manager and AdSense revenues.

35.

Monetization Metrics

The following table presents changes in monetization metrics for Google Search & other revenues (paid clicks and cost-per-click) and Google Network revenues (impressions and cost-per-impression), expressed as a percentage, from 2022 to 2023:

Changes in paid clicks and impressions are driven by a number of interrelated factors, including changes in advertiser spending; ongoing product and policy changes; and, as it relates to paid clicks, fluctuations in search queries resulting from changes in user adoption and usage, primarily on mobile devices.

Changes in cost-per-click and cost-per-impression are driven by a number of interrelated factors including changes in device mix, geographic mix, advertiser spending, ongoing product and policy changes, product mix, property mix, and changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices

Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues increased $5.6 billion from 2022 to 2023 primarily driven by growth in subscriptions, largely for YouTube services. The growth in YouTube services was primarily due to an increase in paid subscribers.

Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues increased $1.0 billion from 2021 to 2022 primarily driven by growth in subscription and device revenues, partially offset by a decrease in platform revenues. The growth in subscriptions was largely for YouTube services, primarily due to an increase in paid subscribers. The growth in device revenues was primarily driven by increased sales of Pixel devices. The decrease in platform revenues was primarily due to Google Play, driven by the fee structure changes we announced in 2021 as well as a decrease in buyer spending. Additionally, the overall increase in Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices revenues was adversely affected by the unfavorable effect of foreign currency exchange rates.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud revenues increased $6.8 billion from 2022 to 2023. Growth was primarily driven by Google Cloud Platform followed by Google Workspace offerings. Google Cloud's infrastructure and platform services were the largest drivers of growth in Google Cloud Platform.

Revenues by Geography

The following table presents revenues by geography as a percentage of revenues, determined based on the addresses of our customers:

For additional information, see Note 2 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

36.

Use of Non-GAAP Constant Currency Information

International revenues, which represent a significant portion of our revenues, are generally transacted in multiple currencies and therefore are affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

The effect of currency exchange rates on our business is an important factor in understanding period-to-period comparisons. We use non-GAAP constant currency revenues ("constant currency revenues") and non-GAAP percentage change in constant currency revenues ("percentage change in constant currency revenues") for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. We believe the presentation of results on a constant currency basis in addition to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) results helps improve the ability to understand our performance, because it excludes the effects of foreign currency volatility that are not indicative of our core operating results.

Constant currency information compares results between periods as if exchange rates had remained constant period over period. We define constant currency revenues as revenues excluding the effect of foreign currency exchange rate movements ("FX Effect") as well as hedging activities, which are recognized at the consolidated level. We use constant currency revenues to determine the constant currency revenue percentage change on a year-on-year basis. Constant currency revenues are calculated by translating current period revenues using prior year comparable period exchange rates, as well as excluding any hedging effects realized in the current period.

Constant currency revenue percentage change is calculated by determining the change in current period revenues over prior year comparable period revenues where current period foreign currency revenues are translated using prior year comparable period exchange rates and hedging effects are excluded from revenues of both periods.

These results should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, results reported in accordance with GAAP. Results on a constant currency basis, as we present them, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies and are not a measure of performance presented in accordance with GAAP.

The following table presents the foreign currency exchange effect on international revenues and total revenues (in millions, except percentages):

(1)Total constant currency revenues of $309.1 billion for 2023 increased $28.2 billion compared to $280.9 billion in revenues, excluding hedging effect, for 2022.

EMEA revenue growth was favorably affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar weakening relative to the Euro, partially offset by the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Turkish lira.

APAC revenue growth was unfavorably affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Japanese yen.

Other Americas revenue growth was unfavorably affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Argentine peso.

37.

Costs and Expenses

Cost of Revenues

The following table presents cost of revenues, including TAC (in millions, except percentages):

Cost of revenues increased $7.1 billion from 2022 to 2023 due to an increase in other cost of revenues and TAC of $5.2 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively.

The increase in TAC from 2022 to 2023 was largely due to an increase in TAC paid to distribution partners, primarily driven by growth in revenues subject to TAC. The TAC rate decreased from 21.8% to 21.4% from 2022 to 2023 primarily due to a revenue mix shift from Google Network properties to Google Search & other properties. The TAC rate on Google Search & other revenues and the TAC rate on Google Network revenues were both substantially consistent from 2022 to 2023.

The increase in other cost of revenues from 2022 to 2023 was primarily due to increases in content acquisition costs, largely for YouTube, and compensation expenses, which included $479 million of charges related to employee severance associated with the reduction in our workforce. Additionally, other cost of revenues benefited from a reduction in depreciation expense due to the change in estimated useful lives of our servers and network equipment.

The increase in other cost of revenues of $11.9 billion from 2021 to 2022 was primarily due to increases in device costs, compensation expenses, depreciation, and equipment-related expenses.

Research and Development

The following table presents R&D expenses (in millions, except percentages):

R&D expenses increased $5.9 billion from 2022 to 2023 primarily driven by an increase in compensation expenses of $2.9 billion, $870 million in charges related to our office space optimization efforts, and an increase in depreciation expense of $722 million. The $2.9 billion increase in compensation expenses was largely the result of a 4% increase in average headcount, after adjusting for roles affected by the reduction in our workforce, and an increase in SBC expense. Additionally, the increase in compensation expenses included $848 million in employee severance charges associated with the reduction in our workforce. The $722 million increase in depreciation expense reflected an offsetting benefit of the change in the estimated useful lives of our servers and network equipment.

Sales and Marketing

The following table presents sales and marketing expenses (in millions, except percentages):

Sales and marketing expenses increased $1.4 billion from 2022 to 2023, primarily driven by an increase in compensation expenses of $1.6 billion, partially offset by a decrease in advertising and promotional activities of $441 million. The $1.6 billion increase in compensation expenses was largely the result of $497 million in employee severance charges associated with the reduction in our workforce in addition to a combination of other factors, none of which were individually significant.

38.

General and Administrative

The following table presents general and administrative expenses (in millions, except percentages):

General and administrative expenses increased $701 million from 2022 to 2023, primarily driven by an increase in compensation expenses of $416 million, which was largely the result of $264 million in employee severance charges associated with the reduction in our workforce in addition to a combination of other factors, none of which were individually significant.

Segment Profitability

The following table presents segment operating income (loss) (in millions).

(1)In addition to the costs included in Alphabet-level activities, hedging gains (losses) related to revenue were $2.0 billion and $236 million in 2022 and 2023, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2023, Alphabet-level activities include charges related to the reduction in force and our office space optimization efforts totaling $3.9 billion. In addition, for the year ended December 31, 2023, we incurred $269 million in accelerated rent and accelerated depreciation. For additional information relating to our workforce reduction and other initiatives, see Note 8 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For additional information relating to our segments, see Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Google Services

Google Services operating income increased $13.2 billion from 2022 to 2023. The increase in operating income was primarily driven by an increase in revenues, partially offset by an increase in content acquisition costs and compensation expenses including an increase in SBC expense. Additionally, operating income benefited from a reduction in costs driven by the change in the estimated useful lives of our servers and certain network equipment.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud operating income of $1.7 billion for 2023 compared to an operating loss of $1.9 billion for 2022 represents an increase of $3.6 billion. The increase in operating income was primarily driven by an increase in revenues, partially offset by an increase in compensation expenses largely driven by headcount growth. Additionally, operating income benefited from a reduction in costs driven by the change in the estimated useful lives of our servers and certain network equipment.

Other Bets

Other Bets operating loss decreased $541 million from 2022 to 2023 primarily due to growth in revenues as well as a reduction in valuation-based compensation liabilities related to Other Bet companies.

Other Income (Expense), Net

The following table presents OI&E, (in millions):

39.

OI&E, net increased $4.9 billion from 2022 to 2023. The increase was primarily due to fluctuations in the value of equity securities reflecting market driven changes in the value of our marketable equity securities, investment specific event driven changes in our non-marketable equity securities, and increased interest income due to interest rates.

For additional information, see Note 7 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Provision for Income Taxes

The following table presents provision for income taxes (in millions, except for effective tax rate):

In 2023, the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) issued a rule change allowing taxpayers to temporarily apply the regulations in effect prior to 2022 related to U.S. federal foreign tax credits, as well as a separate rule change with interim guidance on the capitalization and amortization of R&D expenses. A cumulative one-time adjustment applicable to the prior period for these tax rule changes was recorded in 2023.

The effective tax rate decreased from 2022 to 2023, reflecting the effect of the two tax rule changes described above, particularly the change related to foreign tax credits. The effect of these tax rule changes was partially offset by changes in uncertain tax benefits and a decrease in the U.S. federal Foreign Derived Intangible Income tax deduction.

The OECD is coordinating negotiations among more than 140 countries with the goal of achieving consensus around substantial changes to international tax policies, including the implementation of a minimum global effective tax rate of 15%. While various countries have implemented the legislation as of January 1, 2024, we do not expect a resulting material change to our income tax provision for the 2024 fiscal year. As additional jurisdictions enact such legislation, we expect our effective tax rate and cash tax payments could increase in future years.

Financial Condition

Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Marketable Securities

As of December 31, 2023, we had $110.9 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term marketable securities. Cash equivalents and marketable securities are comprised of time deposits, money market funds, highly liquid government bonds, corporate debt securities, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, and marketable equity securities.

Sources, Uses of Cash and Related Trends

Our principal sources of liquidity are cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, as well as the cash flow that we generate from operations. The primary use of capital continues to be to invest for the long-term growth of the business. We regularly evaluate our cash and capital structure, including the size, pace, and form of capital return to stockholders.

40.

The following table presents our cash flows (in millions):

Cash Provided by Operating Activities

Our largest source of cash provided by operations are advertising revenues generated by Google Search & other properties, Google Network properties, and YouTube properties. In Google Services, we also generate cash through consumer subscriptions and the sale of apps and in-app purchases and devices. In Google Cloud we generate cash through consumption-based fees and subscriptions for infrastructure, platform, collaboration tools, and other cloud services.

Our primary uses of cash from operating activities include payments to distribution and Google Network partners, to employees for compensation, and to content providers. Other uses of cash from operating activities include payments to suppliers for devices, to tax authorities for income taxes, and other general corporate expenditures.

Net cash provided by operating activities increased from 2022 to 2023 due to the increase in cash received from customers, partially offset by increases in cash paid for cost of revenues and operating expenses.

Cash Used in Investing Activities

Cash provided by investing activities consists primarily of maturities and sales of investments in marketable and non-marketable securities. Cash used in investing activities consists primarily of purchases of marketable and non-marketable securities, purchases of property and equipment, and payments for acquisitions.

Net cash used in investing activities increased from 2022 to 2023 due to a decrease in maturities and sales of marketable securities, partially offset by a decrease in payments for acquisitions.

Cash Used in Financing Activities

Cash provided by financing activities consists primarily of proceeds from issuance of debt and proceeds from the sale of interests in consolidated entities. Cash used in financing activities consists primarily of repurchases of stock, net payments related to stock-based award activities, and repayments of debt.

Net cash used in financing activities increased from 2022 to 2023 due to an increase in repurchases of stock.

Liquidity and Material Cash Requirements

We expect existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term marketable securities, cash flows from operations and financing activities to continue to be sufficient to fund our operating activities and cash commitments for investing and financing activities for at least the next 12 months and thereafter for the foreseeable future.

Capital Expenditures and Leases

We make investments in land and buildings for data centers and offices and information technology assets through purchases of property and equipment and lease arrangements to provide capacity for the growth of our services and products.

Capital Expenditures

Our capital investments in property and equipment consist primarily of the following major categories:

•technical infrastructure, which consists of our investments in servers and network equipment for computing, storage, and networking requirements for ongoing business activities, including AI, (collectively referred to as our information technology assets) and data center land and building construction; and

•office facilities, ground-up development projects, and building improvements (also referred to as "fit-outs").

Construction in progress consists primarily of technical infrastructure and office facilities which have not yet been placed in service. The time frame from date of purchase to placement in service of these assets may extend from months to years. For example, our data center construction projects are generally multi-year projects with multiple phases, where we acquire land and buildings, construct buildings, and secure and install information technology assets.

41.

During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023, we spent $31.5 billion and $32.3 billion on capital expenditures, respectively. We expect to increase, relative to 2023, our investment in our technical infrastructure, including servers, network equipment, and data centers, to support the growth of our business and our long-term initiatives, in particular in support of AI products and services. Depreciation of our property and equipment commences when the deployment of such assets are completed and are ready for our intended use. Land is not depreciated. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023, our depreciation on property and equipment were $13.5 billion and $11.9 billion, respectively.

Leases

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023, we recognized total operating lease assets of $4.4 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, the amount of total future lease payments under operating leases, which had a weighted average remaining lease term of eight years, was $17.7 billion, of which $3.2 billion is short-term. As of December 31, 2023, we have entered into leases that have not yet commenced with future short-term and long-term lease payments of $657 million and $3.3 billion, that are not yet recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. These leases will commence between 2024 and 2026 with non-cancelable lease terms of one to 25 years.

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023, our operating lease expenses (including variable lease costs) were $3.7 billion and $4.5 billion, respectively. Finance lease costs were not material for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023. For additional information, see Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Financing

We have a short-term debt financing program of up to $10.0 billion through the issuance of commercial paper. Net proceeds from this program are used for general corporate purposes. As of December 31, 2023, we had no commercial paper outstanding.

As of December 31, 2023, we had $10.0 billion of revolving credit facilities, $4.0 billion expiring in April 2024 and $6.0 billion expiring in April 2028. The interest rates for all credit facilities are determined based on a formula using certain market rates, as well as our progress toward the achievement of certain sustainability goals. No amounts have been borrowed under the credit facilities.

As of December 31, 2023, we had senior unsecured notes outstanding with a total carrying value of $12.9 billion with short-term and long-term future interest payments of $214 million and $3.6 billion, respectively. For additional information, see Note 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We primarily utilize contract manufacturers for the assembly of our servers used in our technical infrastructure and devices we sell. We have agreements where we may purchase components directly from suppliers and then supply these components to contract manufacturers for use in the assembly of the servers and devices. Certain of these arrangements result in a portion of the cash received from and paid to the contract manufacturers to be presented as financing activities in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Share Repurchase Program

During 2023 we repurchased and subsequently retired 528 million shares for $62.2 billion.

In April 2023, the Board of Directors of Alphabet authorized the company to repurchase up to an additional $70.0 billion of its Class A and Class C shares. As of December 31, 2023, $36.3 billion remains available for Class A and Class C share repurchases.

The following table presents Class A and Class C shares repurchased and subsequently retired (in millions):

(1) Shares repurchased include unsettled repurchases as of December 31, 2023.

For additional information, see Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

42.

European Commission Fines

In 2017, 2018 and 2019, the EC announced decisions that certain actions taken by Google infringed European competition law and imposed fines of €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion as of June 27, 2017), €4.3 billion ($5.1 billion as of June 30, 2018), and €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion as of March 20, 2019), respectively. On September 14, 2022, the General Court reduced the 2018 fine from €4.3 billion to €4.1 billion. We subsequently filed an appeal to the European Court of Justice.

While each EC decision is under appeal, we included the fines in accrued expenses and other current liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as we provided bank guarantees (in lieu of a cash payment) for the fines. For additional information, see Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Taxes

As of December 31, 2023, we had income taxes payable of $4.2 billion, of which $2.1 billion was short-term, related to a one-time transition tax payable incurred as a result of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("Tax Act"). As permitted by the Tax Act, we will pay the transition tax in annual interest-free installments through 2025. We also have long-term taxes payable of $6.3 billion primarily related to uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2023.

Purchase Commitments and Other Contractual Obligations

As of December 31, 2023, we had material purchase commitments and other contractual obligations of $45.9 billion, of which $31.6 billion was short-term. These amounts primarily consist of purchase orders for certain technical infrastructure as well as the non-cancelable portion or the minimum cancellation fee in certain agreements related to commitments to purchase licenses, including content licenses, inventory and network capacity. For those agreements with variable terms, we do not estimate the non-cancelable obligation beyond any minimum quantities and/or pricing as of December 31, 2023. In certain instances, the amount of our contractual obligations may change based on the expected timing of order fulfillment from our suppliers. For more information related to our content licenses, see Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In addition, we regularly enter into multi-year, non-cancellable agreements to purchase renewable energy and energy attributes, such as renewable energy certificates. These agreements do not include a minimum dollar commitment. The amounts to be paid under these agreements are based on the actual volumes to be generated and are not readily determinable.

Critical Accounting Estimates

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. In doing so, we have to make estimates and assumptions. Our critical accounting estimates are those estimates that involve a significant level of uncertainty at the time the estimate was made, and changes in them have had or are reasonably likely to have a material effect on our financial condition or results of operations. Accordingly, actual results could differ materially from our estimates. We base our estimates on past experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, and we evaluate these estimates on an ongoing basis. We have reviewed our critical accounting estimates with the Audit and Compliance Committee of our Board of Directors.

For a summary of significant accounting policies and the effect on our financial statements, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Fair Value Measurements of Non-Marketable Equity Securities

We measure certain financial instruments at fair value on a nonrecurring basis, consisting primarily of our non-marketable equity securities. These investments are accounted for under the measurement alternative method ("the measurement alternative") and are measured at cost, less impairment, subject to upward and downward adjustments resulting from observable price changes for identical or similar investments of the same issuer. These adjustments require quantitative assessments of the fair value of our securities, which may require the use of unobservable inputs. Adjustments are determined primarily based on a market approach as of the transaction date and involve the use of estimates using the best information available, which may include cash flow projections or other available market data.

Non-marketable equity securities are also evaluated for impairment, based on qualitative factors including the companies' financial and liquidity position and access to capital resources, among others. When indicators of impairment exist, we prepare quantitative measurements of the fair value of our equity investments using a market approach or an income approach, which requires judgment and the use of unobservable inputs, including discount rates, investee revenues and costs, and comparable market data of private and public companies, among others.

43.

When the quantitative remeasurements of fair value indicate an impairment exists, we write down the investment to its current fair value.

We also have compensation arrangements with payouts based on realized returns from certain investments, i.e. performance fees. We record compensation expense based on the estimated payouts on an ongoing basis, which may result in expense recognized before investment returns are realized and compensation is paid and may require the use of unobservable inputs.

Property and Equipment

We assess the reasonableness of the useful lives of our property and equipment periodically as well as when other changes occur, such as when there are changes to ongoing business operations, changes in the planned use and utilization of assets, or technological advancements, that could indicate a change in the period over which we expect to benefit from the assets.

Income Taxes

We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our uncertain tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes.

Recording an uncertain tax position involves various qualitative considerations, including evaluation of comparable and resolved tax exposures, applicability of tax laws, and likelihood of settlement. We evaluate uncertain tax positions periodically, considering changes in facts and circumstances, such as new regulations or recent judicial opinions, as well as the status of audit activities by taxing authorities. Although we believe we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions, no assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will affect the provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate in the period in which such determination is made.

The provision for income taxes includes the effect of reserve provisions and changes to reserves as well as the related net interest and penalties. In addition, we are subject to the continuous examination of our income tax returns by the IRS and other tax authorities which may assert assessments against us. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations and assessments to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes.

Loss Contingencies

We are regularly subject to claims, lawsuits, regulatory and government investigations, other proceedings, and consent orders involving competition, intellectual property, privacy, data security, tax and related compliance, labor and employment, commercial disputes, content generated by our users, goods and services offered by advertisers or publishers using our platforms, personal injury consumer protection, and other matters. Certain of these matters include speculative claims for substantial or indeterminate amounts of damages. We record a liability when we believe that it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. If we determine that a loss is reasonably possible and the loss or range of loss can be estimated, we disclose the possible loss in Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We evaluate, on a regular basis, developments in our legal matters that could affect the amount of liability that has been previously accrued, and the matters and related reasonably possible losses disclosed, and make adjustments and changes to our disclosures. Significant judgment is required to determine both the likelihood and the estimated amount of a loss related to such matters. Until the final resolution of such matters, there may be an exposure to loss in excess of the amount recorded, and such amounts could be material.

Change in Accounting Estimate

In January 2023, we completed an assessment of the useful lives of our servers and network equipment resulting in a change in the estimated useful life of our servers and certain network equipment to six years. This change in accounting estimate was effective beginning fiscal year 2023. For additional information, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

44.

ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Please read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with “Note about Forward-Looking Statements,” Part I, Item 1 "Business," Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors," and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We have omitted discussion of 2020 results where it would be redundant to the discussion previously included in Item 7 of our 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Understanding Alphabet’s Financial Results

Alphabet is a collection of businesses — the largest of which is Google. We report Google in two segments, Google Services and Google Cloud; we also report all non-Google businesses collectively as Other Bets. For further details on our segments, see Part I, Item 1 “Business” and Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Trends in Our Business and Financial Effect

The following long-term trends have contributed to the results of our consolidated operations, and we anticipate that they will continue to affect our future results:

•Users' behaviors and advertising continue to shift online as the digital economy evolves.

The continuing shift from an offline to online world has contributed to the growth of our business and our revenues since inception. We expect that this shift to an online world will continue to benefit our business and our revenues, although at a slower pace than we have experienced historically, in particular after the outsized growth in our advertising revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we face increasing competition for user engagement and advertisers, which may affect our revenues.

•Users continue to access our products and services using diverse devices and modalities, which allows for new advertising formats that may benefit our revenues but adversely affect our margins.

Our users are accessing the Internet via diverse devices and modalities, such as smartphones, wearables, and smart home devices, and want to be able to be connected no matter where they are or what they are doing. We are focused on expanding our products and services to stay in front of these trends in order to maintain and grow our business.

We benefit from advertising revenues generated from different channels, including mobile, and newer advertising formats. The margins from these channels and newer products have generally been lower than those from traditional desktop search. Additionally, as the market for a particular device type or modality matures, our advertising revenues may be affected. For example, growth in the global smartphone market has slowed due to various factors, including increased market saturation in developed countries, which can affect our mobile advertising revenues.

We expect TAC paid to our distribution partners and Google Network partners to increase as our revenues grow and TAC as a percentage of our advertising revenues ("TAC rate") to be affected by changes in device mix; geographic mix; partner mix; partner agreement terms; the percentage of queries channeled through paid access points; product mix; the relative revenue growth rates of advertising revenues from different channels; and revenue share terms.

We expect these trends to continue to affect our revenues and put pressure on our margins.

•As online advertising evolves, we continue to expand our product offerings, which may affect our monetization.

As interactions between users and advertisers change, and as online user behavior evolves, we continue to expand our product offerings to serve these changing needs, which may affect our monetization. For example, revenues from ads on YouTube and Google Play monetize at a lower rate than our traditional search ads. We also may develop new products incorporating AI innovations that could affect our monetization trends. Additionally, when developing new products and services we generally focus first on user experience before prioritizing monetization.

•As users in developing economies increasingly come online, our revenues from international markets continue to increase, and may require continued investments. In addition, movements in foreign exchange rates affect such revenues.

The shift to online, as well as the advent of the multi-device world, has brought opportunities outside of the U.S., including in emerging markets, such as India. We continue to invest heavily and develop localized versions of our products and advertising programs relevant to our users in these markets. This has led to a trend of increased

26

revenues from emerging markets. We expect that our results will continue to be affected by our performance in these markets, particularly as low-cost mobile devices become more available. This trend could affect our revenues as developing markets initially monetize at a lower rate than more mature markets.

International revenues represent a significant portion of our revenues and are subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar. While we have a foreign exchange risk management program designed to reduce our exposure to these fluctuations, this program does not fully offset their effect on our revenues and earnings.

•The revenues that we derive from non-advertising products and services are increasing and may adversely affect our margins.

Non-advertising revenues have grown over time, and we expect this trend to continue as we focus on expanding our products and services. The margins on these revenues vary significantly and are generally lower than the margins on our advertising revenues. In particular margins on our hardware products adversely affect our consolidated margins due to pressures on pricing and higher cost of sales.

•As we continue to serve our users and expand our businesses, we will invest heavily in operating and capital expenditures.

We continue to make significant research and development investments in areas of strategic focus as we seek to develop new, innovative offerings and improve our existing offerings across our businesses. We also expect to continue to invest in our technical infrastructure, including servers, network equipment, and data centers, to support the growth of our business and our long-term initiatives, in particular in support of AI. In addition acquisitions and strategic investments contribute to the breadth and depth of our offerings, expand our expertise in engineering and other functional areas, and build strong partnerships around strategic initiatives. For example, in September 2022 we closed the acquisition of Mandiant to help expand our offerings in dynamic cyber defense and response.

•We face continuing changes in regulatory conditions, laws, and public policies, which could affect our business practices and financial results.

Changes in social, political, economic, tax, and regulatory conditions or in laws and policies governing a wide range of topics and related legal matters have resulted in fines and caused us to change our business practices. As these global trends continue, our cost of doing business may increase, our ability to pursue certain business models or offer certain products or services may be limited, and we may need to change our business practices. Examples include the antitrust complaints filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and a number of state Attorneys General; pending litigation in the U.S., EU, and around the world that could diminish or eliminate safe harbor protection for websites and online platforms; and the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act in Europe and various legislative proposals in the U.S. focused on large technology platforms. For additional information see Item 1A Risk Factors and Legal Matters in Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8.

•Our employees are critical to our success and we expect to continue investing in them.

Our employees are among our best assets and are critical for our continued success. We expect to continue hiring talented employees around the globe and to provide competitive compensation programs. For additional information see Culture and Workforce in Part I, Item 1 “Business.”

Revenues and Monetization Metrics

We generate revenues by delivering relevant, cost-effective online advertising; cloud-based solutions that provide enterprise customers of all sizes with infrastructure and platform services as well as communication and collaboration tools; sales of other products and services, such as apps and in-app purchases, and hardware; and fees received for subscription-based products. For details on how we recognize revenue, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In addition to the long-term trends and their financial effect on our business noted above, fluctuations in our revenues have been and may continue to be affected by a combination of factors, including:

•changes in foreign currency exchange rates;

•changes in pricing, such as those resulting from changes in fee structures, discounts, and customer incentives;

•general economic conditions and various external dynamics, including geopolitical events, regulations, and other measures and their effect on advertiser, consumer, and enterprise spending;

•new product and service launches; and

27

•seasonality.

Additionally, fluctuations in our revenues generated from advertising ("Google advertising"), revenues from other sources ("Google other revenues"), Google Cloud, and Other Bets revenues have been and may continue to be affected by other factors unique to each set of revenues, as described below.

Google Services

Google Services revenues consist of Google advertising as well as Google other revenues.

Google Advertising

Google advertising revenues are comprised of the following:

•Google Search & other, which includes revenues generated on Google search properties (including revenues from traffic generated by search distribution partners who use Google.com as their default search in browsers, toolbars, etc.), and other Google owned and operated properties like Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Play;

•YouTube ads, which includes revenues generated on YouTube properties; and

•Google Network, which includes revenues generated on Google Network properties participating in AdMob, AdSense, and Google Ad Manager.

We use certain metrics to track how well traffic across various properties is monetized as it relates to our advertising revenues: paid clicks and cost-per-click pertain to traffic on Google Search & other properties, while impressions and cost-per-impression pertain to traffic on our Google Network properties.

Paid clicks represent engagement by users and include clicks on advertisements by end-users on Google search properties and other Google owned and operated properties including Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Play. Cost-per-click is defined as click-driven revenues divided by our total number of paid clicks and represents the average amount we charge advertisers for each engagement by users.

Impressions include impressions displayed to users on Google Network properties participating primarily in AdMob, AdSense, and Google Ad Manager. Cost-per-impression is defined as impression-based and click-based revenues divided by our total number of impressions, and represents the average amount we charge advertisers for each impression displayed to users.

As our business evolves, we periodically review, refine, and update our methodologies for monitoring, gathering, and counting the number of paid clicks and the number of impressions, and for identifying the revenues generated by the corresponding click and impression activity.

Fluctuations in our advertising revenues, as well as the change in paid clicks and cost-per-click on Google Search & other properties and the change in impressions and cost-per-impression on Google Network properties and the correlation between these items have been and may continue to be affected by additional factors, such as:

•advertiser competition for keywords;

•changes in advertising quality, formats, delivery or policy;

•changes in device mix;

•seasonal fluctuations in internet usage, advertising expenditures, and underlying business trends, such as traditional retail seasonality; and

•traffic growth in emerging markets compared to more mature markets and across various verticals and channels.

Google Other

Google other revenues are comprised of the following:

•Google Play, which includes sales of apps and in-app purchases;

•hardware, which includes sales of Fitbit wearable devices, Google Nest home products, and Pixel devices;

•YouTube non-advertising, which includes subscription revenues from services such as YouTube Premium and YouTube TV; and

•other products and services.

28

Fluctuations in our Google other revenues have been and may continue to be affected by additional factors, such as changes in customer usage and demand, number of subscribers, and fluctuations in the timing of product launches.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud revenues are comprised of the following:

•Google Cloud Platform, which includes fees for infrastructure, platform, and other services;

•Google Workspace, which includes fees for cloud-based communication and collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar and Meet; and

•other enterprise services.

Fluctuations in our Google Cloud revenues have been and may continue to be affected by additional factors, such as customer usage.

Other Bets

Revenues from Other Bets are generated primarily from the sale of health technology and internet services.

Costs and Expenses

Our cost structure has two components: cost of revenues and operating expenses. Our operating expenses include costs related to R&D, sales and marketing, and general and administrative functions. Certain of our costs and expenses, including those associated with the operation of our technical infrastructure as well as components of our operating expenses, are generally less variable in nature and may not correlate to changes in revenue.

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues is comprised of TAC and other costs of revenues.

•TAC includes:

◦Amounts paid to our distribution partners who make available our search access points and services. Our distribution partners include browser providers, mobile carriers, original equipment manufacturers, and software developers.

◦Amounts paid to Google Network partners primarily for ads displayed on their properties.

•Other cost of revenues includes:

◦Content acquisition costs, which are payments to content providers from whom we license video and other content for distribution on YouTube and Google Play (we pay fees to these content providers based on revenues generated or a flat fee).

◦Expenses associated with our data centers (including bandwidth, compensation expenses, depreciation, energy, and other equipment costs) as well as other operations costs (such as content review as well as customer and product support costs).

◦Inventory and other costs related to the hardware we sell.

TAC as a percentage of revenues generated from ads placed on Google Network properties are significantly higher than TAC as a percentage of revenues generated from ads placed on Google Search & other properties, because most of the advertiser revenues from ads served on Google Network properties are paid as TAC to our Google Network partners.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses are generally incurred during our normal course of business, which we categorize as either R&D, sales and marketing, or general and administrative.

The main components of our R&D expenses are:

•compensation expenses for engineering and technical employees responsible for R&D related to our existing and new products and services;

•depreciation; and

•third-party services fees primarily relating to consulting and outsourced services in support of our engineering and product development efforts.

29

The main components of our sales and marketing expenses are:

•compensation expenses for employees engaged in sales and marketing, sales support, and certain customer service functions; and

•spending relating to our advertising and promotional activities in support of our products and services.

The main components of our general and administrative expenses are:

•compensation expenses for employees in finance, human resources, information technology, legal, and other administrative support functions;

•expenses relating to legal matters, including fines and settlements; and

•third-party services fees, including audit, consulting, outside legal, and other outsourced administrative services.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net primarily consists of interest income (expense), the effect of foreign currency exchange gains (losses), net gains (losses) and impairment on our marketable and non-marketable securities, performance fees, and income (loss) and impairment from our equity method investments.

For additional details, including how we account for our investments and factors that can drive fluctuations in the value of our investments, see Note 1 and Note 3 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk”.

Provision for Income Taxes

Provision for income taxes represents the estimated amount of federal, state, and foreign income taxes incurred in the U.S. and the many jurisdictions in which we operate. The provision includes the effect of reserve provisions and changes to reserves that are considered appropriate as well as the related net interest and penalties.

For additional details, including a reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory rate to our effective tax rate, see Note 14 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Executive Overview

The following table summarizes our consolidated financial results (in millions, except for per share information and percentages):

(1)    See "Use of Non-GAAP Constant Currency Measures" below for details relating to our use of constant currency information.

•Revenues were $282.8 billion, an increase of 10% year over year, primarily driven by an increase in Google Services revenues of $16.0 billion, or 7%, and an increase in Google Cloud revenues of $7.1 billion, or 37%.

•Total constant currency revenues, which exclude the effect of hedging, increased 14% year over year.

30

•Cost of revenues was $126.2 billion, an increase of 14% year over year, primarily driven by an increase in other costs of revenues.

•Operating expenses were $81.8 billion, an increase of 20% year over year, primarily driven by increases in compensation expenses due to headcount growth, third-party service fees, and advertising and promotional expenses.

Other information:

•On September 12, 2022, we closed the acquisition of Mandiant for a total purchase price of $6.1 billion and added more than 2,600 employees. Mandiant's financial results are reported within Google Cloud as of the acquisition date. See Note 8 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

•On July 15, 2022, the company executed a 20-for-one stock split with a record date of July 1, 2022, effected in the form of a one-time special stock dividend on each share of the company's Class A, Class B, and Class C stock. All prior period references made to share or per share amounts throughout this Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations prior to the effective date have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the effects of the Stock Split. See Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

•Beginning in the first quarter of 2022, we suspended the vast majority of our commercial activities in Russia and effectively ceased business activities of our Russian entity. The ongoing effect of these direct actions on our financial results was not material. The broader economic effects resulting from the war in Ukraine on our future financial results may be unpredictable.

•Repurchases of Class A and Class C shares were $59.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2022. See Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

•Operating cash flow was $91.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2022.

•Capital expenditures, which primarily reflected investments in technical infrastructure, were $31.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2022.

•As of December 31, 2022, we had 190,234 employees.

Additionally, looking ahead to fiscal year 2023:

•In January 2023, we announced a reduction of our workforce of approximately 12,000 roles. We expect to incur employee severance and related charges of $1.9 billion to $2.3 billion, the majority of which will be recognized in the first quarter of 2023.

In addition, we are taking actions to optimize our global office space. As a result we expect to incur exit costs relating to office space reductions of approximately $0.5 billion in the first quarter of 2023. We may incur additional charges in the future as we further evaluate our real estate needs.

•In January 2023, we completed an assessment of the useful lives of our servers and network equipment, resulting in a change in the estimated useful life of our servers and certain network equipment to six years, which we expect to result in a reduction of depreciation of approximately $3.4 billion for the full fiscal year 2023 for assets in service as of December 31, 2022, recorded primarily in cost of revenues and R&D expenses.

•As AI is critical to delivering our mission of bringing our breakthrough innovations into the real world, beginning in January 2023, we will update our segment reporting relating to certain of Alphabet's AI activities. DeepMind, previously reported within Other Bets, will be reported as part of Alphabet's corporate costs, reflecting its increasing collaboration with Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. Prior periods will be recast to conform to the revised presentation. See Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information relating to our segments.

31

Financial Results

Revenues

The following table presents revenues by type (in millions):

Google Services

Google advertising revenues

Google Search & other

Google Search & other revenues increased $13.5 billion from 2021 to 2022. The growth was driven by interrelated factors including increases in search queries resulting from growth in user adoption and usage, primarily on mobile devices; growth in advertiser spending; and improvements we have made in ad formats and delivery. Growth was adversely affected by the unfavorable effect of foreign currency exchange rates.

YouTube ads

YouTube ads revenues increased $398 million from 2021 to 2022. The growth was driven by our brand advertising products followed by direct response products, both of which benefited from increased spending by our advertisers as well as improvements to ad formats and delivery. Growth was adversely affected by the unfavorable effect of foreign currency exchange rates.

Google Network

Google Network revenues increased $1.1 billion from 2021 to 2022. The growth was primarily driven by strength in AdSense and AdMob. Growth was adversely affected by the unfavorable effect of foreign currency exchange rates.

Monetization Metrics

Paid clicks and cost-per-click

The following table presents changes in paid clicks and cost-per-click (expressed as a percentage) from 2021 to 2022:

Paid clicks increased from 2021 to 2022 driven by a number of interrelated factors, including an increase in search queries resulting from growth in user adoption and usage, primarily on mobile devices; growth in advertiser spending; and improvements we have made in ad formats and delivery.

Cost-per-click decreased from 2021 to 2022 driven by a number of interrelated factors including changes in device mix, geographic mix, advertiser spending, ongoing product changes, and property mix, as well as the unfavorable effect of foreign currency exchange rates.

32

Impressions and cost-per-impression

The following table presents changes in impressions and cost-per-impression (expressed as a percentage) from 2021 to 2022:

Impressions increased from 2021 to 2022 primarily driven by Google Ad Manager and AdMob. The increase in cost-per-impression from 2021 to 2022 was driven by a number of interrelated factors including ongoing product and policy changes, improvements we have made in ad formats and delivery, changes in device mix, geographic mix, product mix, and property mix, partially offset by the unfavorable effect of foreign currency exchange rates.

Google other revenues

Google other revenues increased $1.0 billion from 2021 to 2022 primarily driven by growth in YouTube non-advertising and hardware revenues, partially offset by a decrease in Google Play revenues. The growth in YouTube non-advertising was largely due to an increase in paid subscribers. The growth in hardware was primarily driven by increased sales of Pixel devices. The decrease in Google Play revenues was primarily driven by the fee structure changes we announced in 2021 as well as a decrease in buyer spending. Additionally, the overall increase in Google other revenues was adversely affected by the unfavorable effect of foreign currency exchange rates.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud revenues increased $7.1 billion from 2021 to 2022. The growth was primarily driven by Google Cloud Platform followed by Google Workspace offerings. Google Cloud's infrastructure and platform services were the largest drivers of growth in Google Cloud Platform.

Revenues by Geography

The following table presents revenues by geography as a percentage of revenues, determined based on the addresses of our customers:

For further details on revenues by geography, see Note 2 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Use of Non-GAAP Constant Currency Information

International revenues, which represent a significant portion of our revenues, are generally transacted in multiple currencies and therefore are affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

The effect of currency exchange rates on our business is an important factor in understanding period-to-period comparisons. We use non-GAAP constant currency revenues ("constant currency revenues") and non-GAAP percentage change in constant currency revenues ("percentage change in constant currency revenues") for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. We believe the presentation of results on a constant currency basis in addition to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) results helps improve the ability to understand our performance, because it excludes the effects of foreign currency volatility that are not indicative of our core operating results.

Constant currency information compares results between periods as if exchange rates had remained constant period over period. We define constant currency revenues as revenues excluding the effect of foreign exchange rate movements ("FX Effect") as well as hedging activities, which are recognized at the consolidated level. We use constant currency revenues to determine the constant currency revenue percentage change on a year-on-year basis. Constant currency revenues are calculated by translating current period revenues using prior year comparable period exchange rates, as well as excluding any hedging effects realized in the current period.

33

Constant currency revenue percentage change is calculated by determining the change in current period revenues over prior year comparable period revenues where current period foreign currency revenues are translated using prior year comparable period exchange rates and hedging effects are excluded from revenues of both periods.

These results should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, results reported in accordance with GAAP. Results on a constant currency basis, as we present them, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies and are not a measure of performance presented in accordance with GAAP.

The following table presents the foreign exchange effect on international revenues and total revenues (in millions, except percentages):

(1)Total constant currency revenues of $294.2 billion for 2022 increased $36.7 billion compared to $257.5 billion in revenues, excluding hedging effect for 2021.

EMEA revenue growth was unfavorably affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Euro and the British pound.

APAC revenue growth was unfavorably affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Japanese yen and the Australian dollar.

Other Americas growth was unfavorably affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Argentine peso.

Costs and Expenses

Cost of Revenues

The following table presents cost of revenues, including TAC (in millions, except percentages):

Cost of revenues increased $15.3 billion from 2021 to 2022. The increase was due to an increase in other cost of revenues and TAC of $11.9 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively.

The increase in TAC from 2021 to 2022 was due to an increase in TAC paid to distribution partners and to Google Network partners, primarily driven by growth in revenues subject to TAC. The TAC rate was 22% in both 2021 and 2022. The TAC rate on Google Search & other revenues and the TAC rate on Google Network revenues were both substantially consistent from 2021 to 2022.

The increase in other cost of revenues from 2021 to 2022 was primarily due to increases in data center costs and other operations costs as well as hardware costs.

34

Research and Development

The following table presents R&D expenses (in millions, except percentages):

R&D expenses increased $7.9 billion from 2021 to 2022 primarily driven by an increase in compensation expenses of $5.4 billion, largely resulting from a 21% increase in average headcount, and an increase in third-party service fees of $704 million.

Sales and Marketing

The following table presents sales and marketing expenses (in millions, except percentages):

Sales and marketing expenses increased $3.7 billion from 2021 to 2022, primarily driven by an increase in compensation expenses of $1.8 billion, largely resulting from a 19% increase in average headcount, and an increase in advertising and promotional activities of $1.3 billion.

General and Administrative

The following table presents general and administrative expenses (in millions, except percentages):

General and administrative expenses increased $2.2 billion from 2021 to 2022. The increase was primarily driven by an increase in compensation expenses of $1.1 billion, largely resulting from a 21% increase in average headcount, and an increase in third-party services fees of $815 million. In addition, there was a $551 million increase to the allowance for credit losses for accounts receivable, as the prior year comparable period reflected a decline in the allowance.

Segment Profitability

The following table presents segment operating income (loss) (in millions).

(1)Unallocated corporate costs primarily include corporate initiatives, corporate shared costs, such as finance and legal, including certain fines and settlements, as well as costs associated with certain shared R&D activities. Additionally, hedging gains (losses) related to revenue are included in corporate costs and totaled $149 million and $2.0 billion in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Google Services

Google Services operating income decreased $5.3 billion from 2021 to 2022. The decrease in operating income was primarily driven by increases in compensation expenses and TAC, partially offset by growth in revenues.

35

Google Cloud

Google Cloud operating loss decreased $131 million from 2021 to 2022. The decrease in operating loss was primarily driven by growth in revenues, partially offset by an increase in compensation expenses.

Other Bets

Other Bets operating loss increased $802 million from 2021 to 2022. The increase in operating loss was primarily driven by increases in compensation expenses, partially offset by growth in revenues.

Other Income (Expense), Net

The following table presents other income (expense), net, (in millions):

Other income (expense), net, decreased $15.5 billion from 2021 to 2022 primarily due to changes in gains and losses on equity securities and performance fees. In 2022, $3.2 billion of net unrealized losses were recognized on marketable equity securities and $1.5 billion of net realized losses were recognized on debt securities. These losses were partially offset by interest income of $2.2 billion and reversals of previously accrued performance fees related to certain investments of $798 million. In 2021, $9.8 billion of net unrealized gains were recognized on non-marketable equity securities and $1.5 billion of interest income was recognized, partially offset by $1.9 billion of accrued performance fees related to certain investments.

See Note 7 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

Provision for Income Taxes

The following table presents provision for income taxes (in millions, except for effective tax rate):

The effective tax rate decreased from 2021 to 2022, primarily driven by the effects of capitalization and amortization of R&D expenses in 2022 as required by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act generating an increase in the U.S. federal Foreign Derived Intangible Income tax deduction. The decrease was partially offset by a decrease in pre-tax earnings, including in countries that have lower statutory rates and a decrease in the stock-based compensation related tax benefit. See Note 14 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

Financial Condition

Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Marketable Securities

As of December 31, 2022, we had $113.8 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term marketable securities. Cash equivalents and marketable securities are comprised of time deposits, money market funds, highly liquid government bonds, corporate debt securities, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, and marketable equity securities.

Sources, Uses of Cash, and Related Trends

Our principal sources of liquidity are cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, as well as the cash flow that we generate from operations. The primary use of capital continues to be to invest for the long-term growth of the business. We regularly evaluate our cash and capital structure, including the size, pace, and form of capital return to stockholders.

36

The following table presents our cash flows (in millions):

Cash Provided by Operating Activities

Our largest source of cash provided by operations are advertising revenues generated by Google Search & other properties, Google Network properties, and YouTube properties. Additionally, we generate cash through sales of apps and in-app purchases, and hardware; and licensing and service fees, including fees received for Google Cloud offerings and subscription-based products.

Our primary uses of cash from operating activities include payments to distribution and Google Network partners, to employees for compensation, and to content providers. Other uses of cash from operating activities include payments to suppliers for hardware, to tax authorities for income taxes, and other general corporate expenditures.

Net cash provided by operating activities decreased from 2021 to 2022 primarily due to the net effect of an increase in cash received from revenues, offset by increases in cash paid for cost of revenues and operating expenses and an increase in tax payments driven by the effects of capitalization and amortization of R&D expenses beginning in 2022 as required by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Cash Used in Investing Activities

Cash provided by investing activities consists primarily of maturities and sales of investments in marketable and non-marketable securities. Cash used in investing activities consists primarily of purchases of marketable and non-marketable securities, purchases of property and equipment, and payments for acquisitions.

Net cash used in investing activities decreased from 2021 to 2022 as a result of a decrease in net purchases of and maturities and sales of marketable securities, partially offset by an increase in purchases of property and equipment.

Cash Used in Financing Activities

Cash provided by financing activities consists primarily of proceeds from issuance of debt and proceeds from the sale of interest in consolidated entities. Cash used in financing activities consists primarily of repurchases of stock, net payments related to stock-based award activities, and repayments of debt.

Net cash used in financing activities increased from 2021 to 2022 primarily due to an increase in repurchases of stock.

Liquidity and Material Cash Requirements

We expect existing cash, cash equivalents, short-term marketable securities, cash flows from operations and financing activities to continue to be sufficient to fund our operating activities and cash commitments for investing and financing activities for at least the next 12 months and thereafter for the foreseeable future.

Capital Expenditures and Leases

We make investments in land and buildings for data centers and offices and information technology assets through purchases of property and equipment and lease arrangements to provide capacity for the growth of our services and products.

Capital Expenditures

Our capital investments in property and equipment consist primarily of the following major categories:

•technical infrastructure, which consists of our investments in servers and network equipment for computing, storage, and networking requirements for ongoing business activities, including AI, (collectively referred to as our information technology assets) and data center land and building construction; and

•office facilities, ground-up development projects, and building improvements (also referred to as "fit-outs").

Construction in progress consists primarily of technical infrastructure and office facilities which have not yet been placed in service. The time frame from date of purchase to placement in service of these assets may extend from months to years. For example, our data center construction projects are generally multi-year projects with multiple

37

phases, where we acquire qualified land and buildings, construct buildings, and secure and install information technology assets.

During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2022, we spent $24.6 billion and $31.5 billion on capital expenditures, respectively. Depreciation of our property and equipment commences when the deployment of such assets are completed and are ready for our intended use. Land is not depreciated. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2022, our depreciation and impairment expenses on property and equipment were $11.6 billion and $15.3 billion, respectively.

Leases

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2022, we recognized total operating lease assets of $3.0 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively. As of December 31, 2022, the amount of total future lease payments under operating leases, which had a weighted average remaining lease term of 8 years, was $17.4 billion, of which $3.0 billion is short-term. As of December 31, 2022, we have entered into leases that have not yet commenced with future short-term and long-term lease payments of $630 million and $3.1 billion that are not yet recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. These leases will commence between 2023 and 2026 with non-cancelable lease terms of 1 to 25 years.

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2022, our operating lease expenses (including variable lease costs) were $3.4 billion and $3.7 billion, respectively. Finance lease costs were not material for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2022. See Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on leases.

Financing

We have a short-term debt financing program of up to $10.0 billion through the issuance of commercial paper. Net proceeds from this program are used for general corporate purposes. As of December 31, 2022, we had no commercial paper outstanding.

As of December 31, 2022, we had $10.0 billion of revolving credit facilities, $4.0 billion expiring in April 2023 and $6.0 billion expiring in April 2026. The interest rates for all credit facilities are determined based on a formula using certain market rates, as well as our progress toward the achievement of certain sustainability goals. No amounts have been borrowed under the credit facilities.

As of December 31, 2022, we had senior unsecured notes outstanding with a total carrying value of $12.9 billion with short-term and long-term future interest payments of $231 million and $3.8 billion, respectively. See Note 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on our debt.

We primarily utilize contract manufacturers for the assembly of our servers used in our technical infrastructure and hardware products we sell. We have agreements where we may purchase components directly from suppliers and then supply these components to contract manufacturers for use in the assembly of the servers and hardware products. Certain of these arrangements result in a portion of the cash received from and paid to the contract manufacturers to be presented as financing activities in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on From 10-K.

Share Repurchase Program

In April 2022, the Board of Directors of Alphabet authorized the company to repurchase up to $70.0 billion of its Class A and Class C shares. As of December 31, 2022, $28.1 billion remains available for Class A and Class C share repurchases. In accordance with the authorization of the Board of Directors of Alphabet, during 2022 we repurchased and subsequently retired 530 million shares for $59.3 billion. Of the aggregate amount repurchased and subsequently retired, 61 million shares were Class A stock for $6.7 billion and 469 million shares were Class C stock for $52.6 billion. See Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

European Commission Fines

In 2017, 2018 and 2019, the EC announced decisions that certain actions taken by Google infringed European competition law and imposed fines of €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion as of June 27, 2017), €4.3 billion ($5.1 billion as of June 30, 2018), and €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion as of March 20, 2019), respectively. On September 14, 2022, the General Court reduced the 2018 fine from €4.3 billion to €4.1 billion. We subsequently filed an appeal to the European Court of Justice. In 2018 we recognized a charge of $5.1 billion for the fine, which we reduced by $217 million in 2022.

While each EC decision is under appeal, we included the fines in accrued expenses and other current liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as we provided bank guarantees (in lieu of a cash payment) for the fines. For

38

further details, see Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Taxes

As of December 31, 2022, we had short-term and long-term income taxes payable of $1.6 billion and $4.2 billion related to a one-time transition tax payable incurred as a result of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("Tax Act"). As permitted by the Tax Act, we will pay the transition tax in annual interest-free installments through 2025. We also have taxes payable of $5.1 billion primarily related to uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2022.

Purchase Commitments

As of December 31, 2022, we had material non-cancelable contractual obligations of $32.0 billion, of which $17.3 billion was short-term. These amounts represent the non-cancelable portion of agreements or the minimum cancellation fee and are primarily related to commitments to purchase licenses, technical infrastructure, inventory, and network capacity. For those agreements with variable terms, we do not estimate the non-cancelable obligation beyond any minimum quantities and/or pricing as of December 31, 2022.

In addition we regularly enter into multi-year, non-cancellable agreements to purchase renewable energy and energy attributes, such as renewable energy certificates. These agreements do not include a minimum dollar commitment. The amounts to be paid under these agreements are based on the actual volumes to be generated and are not readily determinable.

Critical Accounting Estimates

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. In doing so, we have to make estimates and assumptions. Our critical accounting estimates are those estimates that involve a significant level of uncertainty at the time the estimate was made, and changes in them have had or are reasonably likely to have a material effect on our financial condition or results of operations. Accordingly, actual results could differ materially from our estimates. We base our estimates on past experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, and we evaluate these estimates on an ongoing basis. We have reviewed our critical accounting estimates with the Audit and Compliance Committee of our Board of Directors.

See Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a summary of significant accounting policies and the effect on our financial statements.

Fair Value Measurements of Non-Marketable Equity Securities

We measure certain financial instruments at fair value on a nonrecurring basis, consisting primarily of our non-marketable equity securities. These investments are accounted for under the measurement alternative method ("the measurement alternative") and are measured at cost, less impairment, subject to upward and downward adjustments resulting from observable price changes for identical or similar investments of the same issuer. These adjustments require quantitative assessments of the fair value of our securities, which may require the use of unobservable inputs. Pricing adjustments are determined by using various valuation methodologies and involve the use of estimates using the best information available, which may include cash flow projections or other available market data.

Non-marketable equity securities are also evaluated for impairment, based on qualitative factors including the companies' financial and liquidity position and access to capital resources, among others. When indicators of impairment exist, we prepare quantitative measurements of the fair value of our equity investments using a market approach or an income approach, which requires judgment and the use of unobservable inputs, including discount rates, investee revenues and costs, and comparable market data of private and public companies, among others. When the quantitative remeasurements of fair value indicate an impairment exists, we write down the investment to its current fair value.

We also have compensation arrangements with payouts based on realized returns from certain investments, i.e. performance fees. We record compensation expense based on the estimated payouts on an ongoing basis, which may result in expense recognized before investment returns are realized and compensation is paid and may require the use of unobservable inputs.

Property and Equipment

We assess the reasonableness of the useful lives of our property and equipment periodically as well as when other changes occur, such as when there are changes to ongoing business operations, changes in the planned use and utilization of assets, or technological advancements, that could indicate a change in the period over which we expect to benefit from the assets.

39

Income Taxes

We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in evaluating our uncertain tax positions and determining our provision for income taxes.

Recording an uncertain tax position involves various qualitative considerations, including evaluation of comparable and resolved tax exposures, applicability of tax laws, and likelihood of settlement. We evaluate uncertain tax positions periodically, considering changes in facts and circumstances, such as new regulations or recent judicial opinions, as well as the status of audit activities by taxing authorities. Although we believe we have adequately reserved for our uncertain tax positions, no assurance can be given that the final tax outcome of these matters will not be different. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amounts recorded, such differences will affect the provision for income taxes and the effective tax rate in the period in which such determination is made.

The provision for income taxes includes the effect of reserve provisions and changes to reserves that are considered appropriate as well as the related net interest and penalties. In addition, we are subject to the continuous examination of our income tax returns by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) and other tax authorities which may assert assessments against us. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from these examinations and assessments to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes.

Loss Contingencies

We are regularly subject to claims, lawsuits, regulatory and government investigations, other proceedings, and consent orders involving competition, intellectual property, data privacy and security, tax and related compliance, labor and employment, commercial disputes, content generated by our users, goods and services offered by advertisers or publishers using our platforms, personal injury consumer protection, and other matters. Certain of these matters include speculative claims for substantial or indeterminate amounts of damages. We record a liability when we believe that it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. If we determine that a loss is reasonably possible and the loss or range of loss can be estimated, we disclose the possible loss in Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We evaluate, on a regular basis, developments in our legal matters that could affect the amount of liability that has been previously accrued, and the matters and related reasonably possible losses disclosed, and make adjustments and changes to our disclosures as appropriate. Significant judgment is required to determine both the likelihood and the estimated amount of a loss related to such matters. Until the final resolution of such matters, there may be an exposure to loss in excess of the amount recorded, and such amounts could be material.

Change in Accounting Estimate

In January 2023, we completed an assessment of the useful lives of our servers and network equipment, resulting in a change in the estimated useful life of our servers and certain network equipment to six years, which we expect to result in a reduction of depreciation of approximately $3.4 billion for the full fiscal year 2023 for assets in service as of December 31, 2022, recorded primarily in cost of revenues and R&D expenses. See Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information relating to the useful lives of our servers and network equipment.

ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Please read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with “Note about Forward-Looking Statements,” Part I, Item 1 "Business," Part I, Item 1A "Risk Factors," and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We have omitted discussion of 2019 results where it would be redundant to the discussion previously included in Item 7 of our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Understanding Alphabet’s Financial Results

Alphabet is a collection of businesses — the largest of which is Google. We report Google in two segments, Google Services and Google Cloud; we also report all non-Google businesses collectively as Other Bets. Other Bets include earlier stage technologies that are further afield from our core Google business. For further details on our segments, see Part I, Item 1 “Business” and Note 15 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Trends in Our Business and Financial Effect

The following long-term trends have contributed to the results of our consolidated operations, and we anticipate that they will continue to affect our future results:

•Users' behaviors and advertising continue to shift online as the digital economy evolves.

The continuing shift from an offline to online world has contributed to the growth of our business since inception, contributing to revenue growth, and we expect that this online shift will continue to benefit our business.

•Users are increasingly using diverse devices and modalities to access our products and services, and our advertising revenues are increasingly coming from new formats.

Our users are accessing the Internet via diverse devices and modalities, such as smartphones, wearables and smart home devices, and want to be able to be connected no matter where they are or what they are doing. We are focused on expanding our products and services to stay in front of these trends in order to maintain and grow our business.

We are increasingly generating advertising revenues from different channels, including mobile, and newer advertising formats. The margins on advertising revenues from these channels and newer products have generally been lower than those from traditional desktop search. Additionally, as the market for a particular device type or modality matures, our revenues may be affected. For example, growth in the global smartphone market has slowed due to various factors, including increased market saturation in developed countries, which can affect our mobile advertising revenue growth rates.

We expect TAC paid to our distribution partners and Google Network partners to increase as our revenues grow and TAC as a percentage of our advertising revenues ("TAC rate") to be affected by changes in device mix; geographic mix; partner mix; partner agreement terms; the percentage of queries channeled through paid access points; product mix; the relative revenue growth rates of advertising revenues from different channels; and revenue share terms.

We expect these trends to continue to affect our revenue growth rates and put pressure on our margins.

•As online advertising evolves, we continue to expand our product offerings, which may affect our monetization.

As interactions between users and advertisers change, and as online user behavior evolves, we continue to expand and evolve our product offerings to serve these changing needs. Over time, we expect our monetization trends to fluctuate. For example, we have seen an increase in revenues from ads on YouTube and Google Play, which monetize at a lower rate than our traditional search ads.

•As users in developing economies increasingly come online, our revenues from international markets continue to increase and movements in foreign exchange rates affect such revenues.

The shift to online, as well as the advent of the multi-device world, has brought opportunities outside of the U.S., including in emerging markets, such as India. We continue to invest heavily and develop localized versions of our products and advertising programs relevant to our users in these markets. This has led to a trend of increased revenues from emerging markets. We expect that our results will continue to be affected by our performance in these markets, particularly as low-cost mobile devices become more available. This trend could affect our revenues as developing markets initially monetize at a lower rate than more mature markets.

28

International revenues represent a significant portion of our revenues and are subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates relative to the U.S. dollar. While we have a foreign exchange risk management program designed to reduce our exposure to these fluctuations, this program does not fully offset their effect on our revenues and earnings.

•The portion of revenues that we derive from non-advertising revenues is increasing and may adversely affect margins.

Non-advertising revenues have grown over time. We expect this trend to continue as we focus on expanding our offerings through products and services like Google Cloud, Google Play, hardware products, and YouTube subscriptions. We currently derive non-advertising revenues primarily from sales of apps and in-app purchases, digital content products, and hardware; and licensing and service fees, including fees received for Google Cloud services and subscription and other services. A number of Other Bets initiatives are in their initial development stages, and as such, revenues from these businesses could be volatile. In addition, the margins on these revenues vary significantly and may be lower than the margins on our advertising revenues.

•As we continue to serve our users and expand our businesses, we will invest heavily in operating and capital expenditures.

We continue to make significant R&D investments in areas of strategic focus across Google Services, Google Cloud and Other Bets. We also expect to continue to invest in land and buildings for data centers and offices, and information technology assets, which includes servers and network equipment, to support the long-term growth of our business. In addition, acquisitions and strategic investments contribute to the breadth and depth of our offerings, expand our expertise in engineering and other functional areas, and build strong partnerships around strategic initiatives. For example, in January 2021 we closed the acquisition of Fitbit, Inc. for $2.1 billion, which is expected to help spur innovation in wearable devices.

•We face continuing changes in regulatory conditions, laws, and public policies, which could affect our business practices and financial results.

Changes in social, political, economic, tax, and regulatory conditions or in laws and policies governing a wide range of topics and related legal matters have resulted in fines and caused us to change our business practices. As these global trends continue, our cost of doing business may increase, and our ability to pursue certain business models or offer certain products or services may be limited. Examples include the antitrust complaints filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and a number of state Attorneys General, the Digital Markets Act in Europe, and various legislative proposals in the U.S. focused on large technology platforms.

•Our employees are critical to our success and we expect to continue investing in them.

Our employees are among our best assets and are critical for our continued success. We expect to continue hiring talented employees around the globe and to provide competitive compensation programs. For additional information see Culture and Workforce in Part I, Item 1 “Business.”

Seasonality and other

Our advertising revenues are affected by seasonal fluctuations in internet usage, advertising expenditures, and underlying business trends, such as traditional retail seasonality. Additionally, our non-advertising revenues, including those generated from Google Cloud, Google Play, hardware, and YouTube, may be affected by fluctuations driven by changes in pricing, digital content releases, fee structures, new product and service launches, other market dynamics, as well as seasonality.

Revenues and Monetization Metrics

Google Services

Google Services revenues consist of revenues generated from advertising (“Google advertising”) as well as revenues from other sources (“Google other revenues”).

Google Advertising

Google advertising revenues are comprised of the following:

•Google Search & other, which includes revenues generated on Google search properties (including revenues from traffic generated by search distribution partners who use Google.com as their default search in browsers, toolbars, etc.), and other Google owned and operated properties like Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Play;

•YouTube ads, which includes revenues generated on YouTube properties; and

29

•Google Network, which includes revenues generated on Google Network properties participating in AdMob, AdSense, and Google Ad Manager.

We use certain metrics to track how well traffic across various properties is monetized as it relates to our advertising revenues: paid clicks and cost-per-click pertain to traffic on Google Search & other properties, while impressions and cost-per-impressions pertain to traffic on our Network partners’ properties.

Paid clicks represent engagement by users and include clicks on advertisements by end-users on Google search properties and other Google owned and operated properties including Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Play. Cost-per-click is defined as click-driven revenues divided by our total number of paid clicks and represents the average amount we charge advertisers for each engagement by users.

Impressions include impressions displayed to users on Google Network properties participating primarily in AdMob, AdSense, and Google Ad Manager. Cost-per-impression is defined as impression-based and click-based revenues divided by our total number of impressions, and represents the average amount we charge advertisers for each impression displayed to users.

As our business evolves, we periodically review, refine, and update our methodologies for monitoring, gathering, and counting the number of paid clicks and the number of impressions, and for identifying the revenues generated by the corresponding click and impression activity.

Our advertising revenue growth, as well as the change in paid clicks and cost-per-click on Google Search & other properties and the change in impressions and cost-per-impression on Google Network properties and the correlation between these items, have been affected and may continue to be affected by various factors, including:

•advertiser competition for keywords;

•changes in advertising quality, formats, delivery or policy;

•changes in device mix;

•changes in foreign currency exchange rates;

•fees advertisers are willing to pay based on how they manage their advertising costs;

•general economic conditions, including the effect of COVID-19;

•seasonality; and

•traffic growth in emerging markets compared to more mature markets and across various advertising verticals and channels.

Google Other

Google other revenues are comprised of the following:

•Google Play, which includes sales of apps and in-app purchases and digital content sold in the Google Play store;

•Devices and Services, which includes sales of hardware, including Fitbit wearable devices, Google Nest home products, and Pixel phones;

•YouTube non-advertising, which includes YouTube Premium and YouTube TV subscriptions; and

•other products and services.

Google Cloud

Google Cloud revenues are comprised of the following:

•Google Cloud Platform, which includes fees for infrastructure, platform, and other services;

•Google Workspace, which includes fees for cloud-based collaboration tools for enterprises, such as Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar and Meet; and

•other enterprise services.

Other Bets

Revenues from Other Bets are generated primarily from the sale of health technology and internet services.

30

For further details on how we recognize revenue, see Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Costs and Expenses

Our cost structure has two components: cost of revenues and operating expenses. Our operating expenses include costs related to R&D, sales and marketing, and general and administrative functions. Certain of these expenses, including those associated with the operation of our technical infrastructure as well as components of our operating expenses, are generally less variable in nature and may not correlate to the changes in revenue.

Cost of Revenues

Cost of revenues is comprised of TAC and other costs of revenues.

•TAC includes:

◦Amounts paid to our distribution partners who make available our search access points and services. Our distribution partners include browser providers, mobile carriers, original equipment manufacturers, and software developers.

◦Amounts paid to Google Network partners primarily for ads displayed on their properties.

•Other cost of revenues includes:

◦Content acquisition costs, which are payments to content providers from whom we license video and other content for distribution on YouTube and Google Play (we pay fees to these content providers based on revenues generated or a flat fee).

◦Expenses associated with our data centers (including bandwidth, compensation expenses, depreciation, energy, and other equipment costs) as well as other operations costs (such as content review as well as customer and product support costs).

◦Inventory and other costs related to the hardware we sell.

The cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues generated from ads placed on Google Network properties are significantly higher than the cost of revenues as a percentage of revenues generated from ads placed on Google Search & other properties, because most of the advertiser revenues from ads served on Google Network properties are paid as TAC to our Google Network partners.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses are generally incurred during our normal course of business, which we categorize as either R&D, sales and marketing, or general and administrative.

The main components of our R&D expenses are:

•compensation expenses for engineering and technical employees responsible for R&D related to our existing and new products and services;

•depreciation; and

•professional services fees primarily related to consulting and outsourcing services.

The main components of our sales and marketing expenses are:

•compensation expenses for employees engaged in sales and marketing, sales support, and certain customer service functions; and

•spending relating to our advertising and promotional activities in support of our products and services.

The main components of our general and administrative expenses are:

•compensation expenses for employees in finance, human resources, information technology, legal, and other administrative support functions;

•expenses related to legal matters, including fines and settlements; and

•professional services fees, including audit, consulting, outside legal, and outsourcing services.

31

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net primarily consists of interest income (expense), the effect of foreign currency exchange gains (losses), net gains (losses) and impairment on our marketable and non-marketable securities, performance fees, and income (loss) and impairment from our equity method investments.

For additional details, including how we account for our investments and factors that can drive fluctuations in the value of our investments, see Note 1 and Note 3 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk”.

Provision for Income Taxes

Provision for income taxes represents the estimated amount of federal, state, and foreign income taxes incurred in the U.S. and the many jurisdictions in which we operate. The provision includes the effect of reserve provisions and changes to reserves that are considered appropriate as well as the related net interest and penalties.

For additional details, including a reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory rate to our effective tax rate, see Note 14 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Executive Overview

The following table summarizes consolidated financial results for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2021 unless otherwise specified (in millions, except for per share information and percentages):

•Revenues were $257.6 billion, an increase of 41%. The increase in revenues was primarily driven by Google Services and Google Cloud. The adverse effect of COVID-19 on 2020 advertising revenues also contributed to the year-over-year growth.

•Cost of revenues was $110.9 billion, an increase of 31%, primarily driven by increases in TAC and content acquisition costs. An overall increase in data centers and other operations costs was partially offset by a reduction in depreciation expense due to the change in the estimated useful life of our servers and certain network equipment.

•Operating expenses were $68.0 billion, an increase of 20%, primarily driven by headcount growth, increases in advertising and promotional expenses and charges related to legal matters.

Other information:

•Operating cash flow was $91.7 billion, primarily driven by revenues generated from our advertising products.

•Share repurchases were $50.3 billion, an increase of 62%. See Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

32

•Capital expenditures, which primarily reflected investments in technical infrastructure, were $24.6 billion.

•In January 2021, we updated the useful lives of certain of our servers and network equipment, resulting in a reduction in depreciation expense of $2.6 billion recorded primarily in cost of revenues and R&D. See Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

•Our acquisition of Fitbit closed in early January 2021, and the related revenues are included in Google other. See Note 8 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

•On February 1, 2022, the Company announced that the Board of Directors had approved and declared a 20-for-one stock split in the form of a one-time special stock dividend on each share of the Company’s Class A, Class B, and Class C stock. See Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

The Effect of COVID-19 on our Financial Results

We began to observe the effect of COVID-19 on our financial results in March 2020 when, despite an increase in users' search activity, our advertising revenues declined compared to the prior year. This was due to a shift of user search activity to less commercial topics and reduced spending by our advertisers. For the quarter ended June 30, 2020 our advertising revenues declined due to the continued effects of COVID-19 and the related reductions in global economic activity, but we observed a gradual return in user search activity to more commercial topics. This was followed by increased spending by our advertisers, which continued throughout the second half of 2020. Additionally, over the course of 2020, we experienced variability in our margins as many of our expenses are less variable in nature and/or may not correlate to changes in revenues. Market volatility contributed to fluctuations in the valuation of our equity investments. Further, our assessment of the credit deterioration of our customers due to changes in the macroeconomic environment during the period was reflected in our allowance for credit losses for accounts receivable.

Throughout 2021 we remained focused on innovating and investing in the services we offer to consumers and businesses to support our long-term growth. The impact of COVID-19 on 2020 financial results affected year-over-year growth trends. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, be unpredictable and affect our business and financial results. Our past results may not be indicative of our future performance, and historical trends in our financial results may differ materially.

Financial Results

Revenues

The following table presents revenues by type (in millions):

Google Services

Google advertising revenues

Google Search & other

Google Search & other revenues increased $44.9 billion from 2020 to 2021. The overall growth was driven by interrelated factors including increases in search queries resulting from growth in user adoption and usage, primarily

33

on mobile devices, growth in advertiser spending, and improvements we have made in ad formats and delivery. The adverse effect of COVID-19 on 2020 revenues also contributed to the year-over-year increase.

YouTube ads

YouTube ads revenues increased $9.1 billion from 2020 to 2021. Growth was driven by our direct response and brand advertising products. Growth for our direct response advertising products was primarily driven by increased advertiser spending as well as improvements to ad formats and delivery. Growth for our brand advertising products was primarily driven by increased spending by our advertisers and the adverse effect of COVID-19 on 2020 revenues.

Google Network

Google Network revenues increased $8.6 billion from 2020 to 2021. The growth was primarily driven by strength in AdMob, Google Ad Manager, and AdSense. The adverse effect of COVID-19 on 2020 revenues also contributed to the year-over-year increase.

Monetization Metrics

Paid clicks and cost-per-click

The following table presents changes in paid clicks and cost-per-click (expressed as a percentage) from 2020 to 2021:

Paid clicks increased from 2020 to 2021 driven by a number of interrelated factors, including an increase in search queries resulting from growth in user adoption and usage, primarily on mobile devices; an increase in clicks relating to ads on Google Play; growth in advertiser spending; and improvements we have made in ad formats and delivery. The adverse effect of COVID-19 on 2020 paid clicks also contributed to the increase.

The increase in cost-per-click from 2020 to 2021 was driven by a number of interrelated factors including changes in device mix, geographic mix, growth in advertiser spending, ongoing product changes, and property mix, as well as the adverse effect of COVID-19 in 2020.

Impressions and cost-per-impression

The following table presents changes in impressions and cost-per-impression (expressed as a percentage) from 2020 to 2021:

Impressions increased from 2020 to 2021 primarily driven by growth in AdMob, partially offset by a decline in impressions related to AdSense. The increase in cost-per-impression was primarily driven by the adverse effect of COVID-19 in 2020 as well as the effect of interrelated factors including ongoing product and policy changes and improvements we have made in ad formats and delivery, changes in device mix, geographic mix, product mix, and property mix.

Google other revenues

Google other revenues increased $6.3 billion from 2020 to 2021. The growth was primarily driven by YouTube non-advertising and hardware, followed by Google Play. Growth for YouTube non-advertising was primarily due to an increase in paid subscribers. Growth in hardware reflects the inclusion of Fitbit revenues, as the acquisition closed in January 2021, and an increase in phone sales. Growth for Google Play was primarily driven by sales of apps and in-app purchases.

34

Google Cloud

Google Cloud revenues increased $6.1 billion from 2020 to 2021. The growth was primarily driven by GCP followed by Google Workspace offerings. Google Cloud's infrastructure and platform services were the largest drivers of growth in GCP.

Revenues by Geography

The following table presents revenues by geography as a percentage of revenues, determined based on the addresses of our customers:

For further details on revenues by geography, see Note 2 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Use of Constant Currency Revenues and Constant Currency Revenue Percentage Change

The effect of currency exchange rates on our business is an important factor in understanding period to period comparisons. We use non-GAAP constant currency revenues and non-GAAP percentage change in constant currency revenues for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. We believe the presentation of results on a constant currency basis in addition to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) results helps improve the ability to understand our performance because it excludes the effects of foreign currency volatility that are not indicative of our core operating results.

Constant currency information compares results between periods as if exchange rates had remained constant period over period. We define constant currency revenues as total revenues excluding the effect of foreign exchange rate movements and hedging activities, and use it to determine the constant currency revenue percentage change on a year-on-year basis. Constant currency revenues are calculated by translating current period revenues using prior year comparable period exchange rates, as well as excluding any hedging effects realized in the current period.

Constant currency revenue percentage change is calculated by determining the change in current period revenues over prior year comparable period revenues where current period foreign currency revenues are translated using prior year comparable period exchange rates and hedging effects are excluded from revenues of both periods.

These results should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, results reported in accordance with GAAP. Results on a constant currency basis, as we present them, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies and are not a measure of performance presented in accordance with GAAP.

35

The following table presents the foreign exchange effect on international revenues and total revenues (in millions, except percentages):

EMEA revenue growth from 2020 to 2021 was favorably affected by foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar weakening relative to the Euro and British pound.

APAC revenue growth from 2020 to 2021 was favorably affected by foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar weakening relative to the Australian dollar, partially offset by the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Japanese yen.

Other Americas growth change from 2020 to 2021 was favorably affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily due to the U.S. dollar weakening relative to the Canadian dollar, partially offset by the U.S. dollar strengthening relative to the Argentine peso and the Brazilian real.

Costs and Expenses

Cost of Revenues

The following tables present cost of revenues, including TAC (in millions, except percentages):

Cost of revenues increased $26.2 billion from 2020 to 2021. The increase was due to an increase in other cost of revenues and TAC of $13.4 billion and $12.8 billion, respectively.

The increase in TAC from 2020 to 2021 was due to an increase in TAC paid to distribution partners and to Google Network partners, primarily driven by growth in revenues subject to TAC. The TAC rate decreased from 22.3% to 21.8% from 2020 to 2021 primarily due to a revenue mix shift from Google Network properties to Google Search & other properties. The TAC rate on Google Search & other properties revenues and the TAC rate on Google Network revenues were both substantially consistent from 2020 to 2021.

The increase in other cost of revenues from 2020 to 2021 was driven by increases in content acquisition costs primarily for YouTube, data center and other operations costs, and hardware costs. The increase in data center and

36

other operations costs was partially offset by a reduction in depreciation expense due to the change in the estimated useful life of our servers and certain network equipment beginning in the first quarter of 2021.

Research and Development

The following table presents R&D expenses (in millions, except percentages):