Google improves ad services

Article Excerpt

ALPHABET INC. (Nasdaq symbols GOOG $831 [class C: non-voting] and GOOGL $850 [class A: one vote per share]; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 691.4 million; Market cap: $574.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.abc.xyz) is the parent company of Google’s Internet search business (still called Google) and other operations (called “Other Bets”). Each of these divisions functions independently. Google gets 90% of its revenue from online advertising. The company charges clients when a user clicks on their ads. Recently, advertisements from PepsiCo, AT&T and Procter & Gamble have appeared alongside some objectionable content on Google’s YouTube streaming-video site. In response, those companies and others have pulled their ads. That could cost Alphabet about $750 million in lost revenue (or about 1% of its 2016 revenue of $90.3 billion). Google now plans to adjust its computer algorithms to better identify unsuitable content. That would make it easier for advertisers to avoid certain sites. Better controls…