SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Google’s digital advertising empire is regaining the momentum it lost during the pandemic’s early stages. Its YouTube video service is maturing into a major marketing magnet and others pour more into promotions aimed at cooped-up consumers with money to spend. The comeback highlighted the latest quarterly results released Tuesday by Alphabet Inc., Google’s corporate parent. As usual, Alphabet generated all but a small fraction of its revenue from Google’s internet-leading ad network. Both Alphabet’s revenue and profit easily topped analyst projections, helping to lift the company’s stock by more than 7% in extended trading. Google’s fourth-quarter ad revenue surged 23% from the prior year, with the biggest gains coming from YouTube.
