Google has for the first time disclosed how much it earns from its main advertising and information business and how much it loses on "other bets", such as rolling out a fibre network in the US or developing balloons for delivering the internet. Its parent company Alphabet reported that "other bets" cost the company an operating loss of USD 3.567 billion last year and contributed revenues of only USD 448 million. The main Google business recorded an operating profit of USD 23.425 billion on revenues of USD 74.451 billion.
In the fourth quarter, the total group posted revenues up 18 percent year-on-year to USD 21.329 billion. Net profit rose to USD 4.923 billion or USD 7.06 per share from USD 4.675 billion or USD 6.79 per share in Q4 2014.
Google's revenues rose 18 percent to USD 21.178 billion. Advertising revenues were up 17 percent to USD 19.078 billion including traffic acquisition costs (TAC), led by a 20 percent increase on Google's own sites. TAC increased to USD 4.055 billion from USD 3.624 billion a year earlier, equal to 21 percent of ad revenue.
Alphabet reduced its capital expenditure to USD 2.100 billion in Q4 from USD 3.551 billion a year ago, helping free cash flow jump to USD 4.315 billion. The company ended 2015 with total cash of USD 73.066 billion.
