Google parent sees record quarterly profits on back of retail ads

With consumers spending more time online during the pandemic, retailers have been pushing to reach them there.

Google parent Alphabet Inc’s quarterly revenue and profit surged to record highs, the company reported on Tuesday, powered by a rise in advertising spending as more consumers shopped online. Shares of Alphabet, the world’s largest provider of search and video ads, rose 3.3 percent in extended trading after the results, which handily beat analyst estimates. Shares of Facebook, which competes with Google in web ad sales and reports its own results on Wednesday, rose 1.3 percent. Overall, it was a stellar day for the big US tech companies – Apple and Microsoft also reported record earnings.