Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai (pictured) highlighted a rising tide of online activity globally which contributed to a surge in earnings for Q2, as advertising revenue resumed business as usual after being hit by Covid-19 (coronavirus) headwinds in 2020.

Revenue grew 62 per cent year-on-year to $61.9 billion, the bulk of which came from Google advertising which rose 69 per cent to $50.4 billion. Net income hit $18.5 billion, up from $7 billion, in part due to an accounting change.

In a statement, Pichai hailed the fact the company’s services helped consumers and businesses, while adding long-term investment in AI and Google Cloud “are helping us drive significant improvements in everyone’s digital experience”.

Advertising from YouTube rose from $3.8 billion to $7 billion, while its TikTok competitor YouTube shorts surpassed 15 billion views daily, an increase from 6.5 billion in March.

Revenue for Google Cloud, which includes infrastructure, its data analytics arm and enterprise-focused services including Google Docs and Sheets, was up from $3 billion to $4.6 billion. Operating loss in cloud was also cut from $1.4 billion to $591 million.

Other Bets, which includes self-driving car initiatives, posted a rise to $192 million, from $148 billion, however operating loss was higher at $1.4 billion from $1.1 billion.

On an earnings call, CFO Ruth Porat added the company expected “a more muted tailwind to revenues” in Q3, but added it was “too early to forecast longer-term trends as markets reopen”.