Alphabet reported better than expected ad sales, sending shares up five percent in after-hours trading.
Google’s parent company earned a total of $32.7 billion in revenue in the three months to the end of June. This is an increase of 26 percent compared to the same period last year.
The group’s net income would have been $8.3 billion without the record fine, which was given to Google after the EU found the tech-giant had been using the mobile operating system to illegally “cement its dominant position” in web searches.
“Today, mobile internet makes up more than half of global internet traffic. It has changed the lives of millions of Europeans. Our case is about three types of restrictions that Google has imposed on Android device manufacturers and network operators to ensure that traffic on Android devices goes to the Google search engine,” said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy.
“In this way, Google has used Android as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine. These practices have denied rivals the chance to innovate and compete on the merits. They have denied European consumers the benefits of effective competition in the important mobile sphere. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules.”
Alphabet is appealing the decision.
Despite the record fine, the group reported strong results and the share price surged six percent in after-hours trading as investors shrugged off the long-term impact of the fine.
Ruth Porat, the chief financial officer of Alphabet and Google, said the company had delivered “another quarter of very strong performance”.
Shares in Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) are currently trading up 1.74 percent at 1205,50 (1049GMT).
