Google Search profile

Search advertising is a central part of Google's wider business.

Alphabet Inc.: USD 402.84 billion revenue in the year ended 2025-12-31. Net income: USD 132.17 billion. Group/company figures.

32.81% net margin for the year ended 2025-12-31: reported net income divided by revenue.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), 2026-10-16 snapshot: USD 340.59 per share. Market capitalisation: USD 4.17T.

Search advertising remains central while AI answers compete for the same attention and commercial intent.

• LP

  Larry Page

  A Google co-founder. Super-voting Class B shares give him voting influence that differs from ordinary economic ownership.

  Voting power

  27.4%

  Disclosure as of

  6 April 2026

  Total voting power, not total economic ownership.

  Sources (1)

  • Alphabet Inc. — proxy ownership tablePrimary regulatory filing · accessed 18 October 2026
• SB

  Sergey Brin

  A Google co-founder with super-voting Class B shares. Voting power is not the same percentage as total economic equity.

  Voting power

  25.3%

  Disclosure as of

  6 April 2026

  Total voting power, not total economic ownership.

  Sources (1)

  • Alphabet Inc. — proxy ownership tablePrimary regulatory filing · accessed 18 October 2026
• B

  BlackRock

  An investment-management group reporting voting or investment authority over shares held through managed portfolios. The position is not all the manager’s own economic wealth.

  Share-class percentage — Class A

  6.1%

  Voting power

  2.5%

  Disclosure as of

  6 April 2026

  6.1% is Class A only, not all economic equity. The proxy cites an older 2024 filing.

  Sources (1)

  • Alphabet Inc. — proxy ownership tablePrimary regulatory filing · accessed 18 October 2026

AI Overviews summarise results; AI Mode can break a question into multiple searches and assemble an answer. This changes Google from a directory of destinations into a destination itself.

Google develops Gemini and the search systems that retrieve, rank and summarise material.

Google’s policy describes account, device and activity information used for service delivery, personalisation, advertising and other stated purposes. Its AI-interaction uses depend on the feature and settings. Activity controls, advertising choices, connected-app access and deletion are separate controls; one switch does not necessarily remove every record.

Ranking systems, spam controls and human evaluation shape the product. Source links let you inspect the material behind a generated answer.

Follow original sources, distinguish advertisements from results and review Search history and personalisation controls.

15/25 points

Google ranks websites, sells advertising and generates some answers. Each result type has a different source and commercial role.

10/25 points

Google’s policy describes account, device and activity information used for service delivery, personalisation, advertising and other stated purposes. Its AI-interaction uses depend on the feature and settings. Activity controls, advertising choices, connected-app access and deletion are separate controls; one switch does not necessarily remove every record.

15/25 points

Sponsored results, ordinary links and generated answers are different kinds of content.

15/25 points

Follow original sources, distinguish advertisements from results and review Search history and personalisation controls.

Higher-scoring options for a comparable use:

• DuckDuckGo — 80/100 versus 55/100

  Comparable use case: general web search

  General web search: 80/100 compared with 55/100. Privacy is the product distinction—not a requirement to abandon useful search.

  Sources (2)

  • DuckDuckGo — Trust evidencePublic primary documentation · accessed 18 October 2026
  • DuckDuckGo — official product pagePrimary product · accessed 18 October 2026

• Ecosia — 75/100 versus 55/100

  Comparable use case: general web search

  General web search: 75/100 compared with 55/100. An ordinary search becomes a small expression of an environmental preference.

  Sources (3)

  • Ecosia — Trust evidencePublic primary documentation · accessed 18 October 2026
  • Ecosia — Trust evidencePublic primary documentation · accessed 18 October 2026
  • Ecosia — official product pagePrimary product · accessed 18 October 2026

A useful answer rewards another search; an intriguing result opens the next question.

Autocomplete and suggested follow-up questions give curiosity its next destination.

AI Overviews and AI Mode compress several research steps into a response on Google.

Popular searches, ratings and review counts make other people’s attention visible.

Breaking news and changing results make information feel perishable, encouraging another check.