In the first quarter of 2023, Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, reported a slight decrease in advertising revenue, while search saw an increase of almost 2% YoY.

Overall impressions. Overall, these results suggest a mixed performance for Google’s advertising platforms in terms of ad impressions.

Even with all of the layoffs, Google has entered the first quarter of this year with nearly 27,000 more employees than last year. Though, it was noted that “the number of employees includes almost all of the employees affected by the reduction of our workforce. We expect most of those affected will no longer be reflected in our headcount by the end of the second quarter of 2023, subject to local law and consultation requirements.”

Dig deeper. You can read the full report here.

Why we care. Google is still the main player in search, but it’s declining revenue is a sure indication of the downturn in the economy. Until the economy turns, don’t expect Google to post gains in core advertising sales.