Google’s search business proves highly resilient amid a challenging economic environment

The news: Google parent Alphabet’s Q1 revenues topped $90 billion for the first time in a first quarter, but investors remained cautious amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny and the threat of search disruption.

While ad and cloud revenues delivered double-digit growth, the company faces uncertainty from tariffs, legal pressures, and questions about Chrome’s long-term influence.

By the numbers:

• Total revenues: $90.2 billion, up 12% YoY from $80.5 billion and beating analyst expectations.
• Ad revenues: $66.9 billion, up from $61.7 billion YoY—also beating expectations.
• YouTube ad revenues: $8.93 billion, up from $8.09 billion last year.
• Google Cloud revenues: $12.26 billion, a 28% YoY increase from $9.57 billion, in line with expectations.

Key takeaways:

• Search and YouTube ads continue to drive growth: Google’s ad business remains resilient, with YouTube’s strong showing and search anchoring revenues.
• Tariffs haven’t hit yet—but could sting later: While new US trade tariffs had no immediate effects, some advertisers in vulnerable sectors have reduced spending, suggesting softness may show up in Q2 results.

Zooming out: To say Google is dealing with a lot would be an understatement.

• Regulatory pressure is building: Alphabet is now grappling with two landmark antitrust cases. The most recent, focused on its ad tech dominance, resulted in a ruling that Google maintains an illegal monopoly and may face divestiture or restructuring.
• Chrome is looking less shiny: An earlier case centered on the bundling of its search engine with Chrome—an issue critical to Google's control over default web experiences. If DOJ forces Google to sell Chrome, OpenAI could be interested.
• The Privacy Sandbox pivot deepens scrutiny: Alphabet’s decision to maintain third-party cookies in Chrome, despite years of planning their removal, has sparked concern that Google is prioritizing ad revenues over consumer privacy. With legal challenges escalating, Google’s dominant browser is now a potential liability as much as a strategic asset.
• AI and social are reshaping search behavior: GenAI and social media platforms are eating into traditional search activity, prompting agencies to reassess spend. While Google maintains a commanding lead in genAI search for now, this shift could meaningfully affect Google's most profitable business line—especially if Chrome’s influence is curtailed by regulators.

Our take: Alphabet’s Q1 shows stability, but the company is entering a new phase of transformation. Amid AI infrastructure buildouts, rising browser scrutiny, and evolving user behavior, Google must defend its core business while redefining how it engages both advertisers and regulators.

• Chrome’s entanglement in both antitrust cases makes it a central character in Google’s unfolding challenges.
• While the browser has long fueled Google's ad empire, it’s now under legal fire for doing exactly that. Marketers should track these developments closely; any forced changes to Chrome’s role in search and advertising could reshape digital marketing fundamentals for years to come.