What you need to know

• Google's parent company Alphabet just released its earnings report for the second quarter of 2020.
• The report showed total revenues of over $38 billion, but ad revenue was in decline.
• While the company beat its own projections, it still experienced a 2% decline in earnings compared to Q2 2019.

Google's parent company Alphabet just released its quarterly earnings report for the second quarter of 2020. While the company managed to beat its own projections in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it experienced its first downward quarter year over year since it went public in nearly 16 years ago. Significantly, Google search and ad revenue was down year-over-year (down roughly 10%), although on the plus side, YouTube ad revenue was up slightly (up roughly 5%) and Google Cloud revenue continued to climb (up 43%).

Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that the company has been working hard to weather the current social and economic environment, and remains committed to helping its partners in business and education, as well as its general consumer base, make the best out of conditions through its properties like G Suite, Youtube, and Google Cloud. Alphabet and Google Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat also acknowledged that the company is continuing to "navigate through a difficult global economic environment."

The quarterly earnings report comes hot on the heels of congressional oversight hearings on antitrust issues, involving Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Pichai represented Alphabet and Google and took answered many heated questions about his company's policies and activities around search, copyright infringement, and perceived media bias.

With the backdrop of this less-than-desirable press, the company teased an announcement of its long-awaited Pixel 4a smartphone, which is scheduled to debut next Monday, August 3rd. While the phone isn't likely to make much of an impact on the company's Q3 earnings, it could serve to generate excitement and interest in Google properties in general. In fact, the Pixel 4a and rumored Pixel 5 are some of the most searched for topics on Android Central! Be sure to follow our comprehensive Pixel 4a coverage, news, and updates.