The chart above displays the quarterly sales and marketing expenses of Alphabet Inc (parent company of Google) from 2020 to 2023. Alphabet has continued to increase its spending on sales and marketing each year. In fiscal 2022, the company spent total $26.6 billion on sales and marketing. The company spent $6.533 billion on sales and marketing in the first quarter of 2023 which was $700 million higher than the same quarter in the prior year.
Quarterly Sales and marketing expenses of Alphabet (Google) 2014-2023
Amounts are in millions.
| FY 2023 | Sales & Marketing expenses (millions) |
| Q1 | $6,533 |
| FY 2022 | Sales & Marketing Expenses (millions) |
| Q1 | $5,825 |
| Q2 | $6,630 |
| Q3 | $6,929 |
| Q4 | $7,183 |
| Total | $26,567 |
In fiscal 2022, the sales and marketing expenses of Alphabet increased to $26.7 billion compared to $22.9 billion in the prior year. The company spent higher on sales and marketing in the first three quarters of fiscal 2022 compared to the same quarters of the prior year.
| FY 2021 | Sales and marketing expenses ($ millions) |
| Q1 | $4,516 |
| Q2 | $5,276 |
| Q3 | $5,516 |
| Q4 | $7,604 |
| Total | $22,912 |
According to Alphabet Inc’s 2021 annual report, “Sales and marketing expenses increased $5.0 billion from 2020 to 2021, primarily driven by an increase in
advertising and promotional activities of $2.5 billion and an increase in compensation expenses of $2.2 billion. The
increase in advertising and promotional activities was driven by both increased spending in the current period and a
reduction in spending in 2020 due to COVID-19. The increase in compensation expenses was largely due to a 14%
increase in headcount.”
| FY 2020 | Sales and marketing expenses ($ millions) |
| Q1 | $4,500 |
| Q2 | $3,901 |
| Q3 | $4,231 |
| Q4 | $5,314 |
| Total | $17,946 |
Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, spent 9.8% of its net revenues on sales and marketing in 2020, compared to 11.4% in the last year. It sales and marketing expenses were down to $17.95 billion in 2020 compared to $18.5 billion in 2019.
| FY 2019 | Sales and marketing expenses (millions) |
| Q1 | $3,905 |
| Q2 | $4,212 |
| Q3 | $4,609 |
| Q4 | $5,738 |
| Total | $18,464 |
The sales and marketing expenses of Alphabet Inc (the parent company of Google) grew to $18.5 billion in fy 2019 compared to $16.3 billion in fy 2018. The company incurred the highest sales and marketing expenses in the fourth quarter of the year when they rose to $5.74 billion compared to $5.1 billion for the same period last year.
| FY 2018 | Sales and Marketing expenses (Millions) |
| Q1 | $3,604 |
| Q2 | $3,780 |
| Q3 | $3,849 |
| Q4 | $5,100 |
| FY 2017 | Sales and marketing expenses (millions) |
| Q1 | $2,644 |
| Q2 | $2,897 |
| Q3 | $3,042 |
| Q4 | $4,310 |
| FY 2016 | Sales & marketing expenses (millions) |
| Q1 | $2,387 |
| Q2 | $2,415 |
| Q3 | $2,565 |
| Q4 | $3,118 |
| FY 2015 | Sales & Marketing expenses (Millions) |
| Q1 | $2,065 |
| Q2 | $2,080 |
| Q3 | $2,223 |
| Q4 | $2,679 |
| FY 2014 | Sales & Marketing expenses (millions) |
| Q1 | $1,729 |
| Q2 | $1,941 |
| Q3 | $2,084 |
| Q4 | $2,377 |
About Alphabet:
Alphabet is the parent company of Google. It has its headquarters located at Mountain View California, United States.
Apart from its google search engine and advertising products, Alphabet offers a vast range of products including Cloud services and other services like Chrome Browser and Google Maps.
The CEO of Alphabet is Sundar Pichai. Alphabet’s main source of revenue if digital advertising followed by cloud services. It also owns YouTube and some other businesses that are collectively called Other Bets.
Abhijeet Pratap is a passionate blogger with seven years of experience in the field. Specializing in business management and digital marketing, he has developed a keen understanding of the intricacies of these domains. Through his insightful articles, Abhijeet shares his knowledge, helping readers navigate the complexities of modern business landscapes and digital strategies.