Google parent company Alphabet saw better than expected results in Q4, but ad revenue lagged behind.

The firm returned to double digit growth with revenue up by 13% to £68 billion ($86 billion), but ad growth lagged behind that of other areas such as Google cloud and YouTube subscriptions.

There are fears that advertisers are concerned about events including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the rise of disinformation.

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The results follow Google’s rollout of Gemini AI, a tool which uses generative artificial intelligence and which has been rolled out for advertisers.

Major advertising firms including WPP and Publicis have also invested in AI for advertising purposes.

However, the outlook for broadcasters has not been as strong, with Channel 4 and ITV making cutbacks as a result of falling ad spend.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said: “We are pleased with the ongoing strength in search and the growing contribution from YouTube and Cloud. Each of these is already benefitting from our AI investments and innovation. As we enter the Gemini era the best is yet to come”.

Google chief investment officer, CFO Ruth Porat added: “We ended 2023 with very strong fourth quarter financial results, with Q4 consolidated revenues of $86 billion, up 13% year over year.”

“We remain committed to our work to durably re-engineer our cost base as we invest to support our growth opportunities.”