Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) has replaced its head of online search and advertisements.
The Silicon Valley-based technology giant announced that longtime company insider Nick Fox is taking over the important role of leading Google’s search and ad unit, replacing Prabhakar Raghavan who previously held the role for 12 years. Raghavan is becoming chief technologist at Alphabet. Fox has worked at Alphabet since 2003 and previously led development of the company’s digital assistant.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced the executive shake-up in a blog post. Both Fox and Raghavan will continue to report to Pichai in their new roles, said the CEO. The changes to the leadership team come as Google races to stay ahead in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race, and as it grapples with several antitrust lawsuits that are directly related to its dominant role in online search and advertising.
The Importance of Online Search to Google
Online search and advertising remains critically important to Alphabet and its finances. The Google search engine, which turned 25 years old in 2023, receives 5.4 billion online queries each day. That’s equivalent to 70,000 Google searches per second.
The Google search engine is a cash cow for Alphabet, generating more than $200 billion in advertising revenue for the company last year. Despite some competition from other search engines, such as Microsoft (MSFT) Bing, Google remains dominant in online search, controlling about 90% of the global market. That market dominance has led to the company being hit with several antitrust lawsuits.
Alphabet stock has risen 17% so far this year.
Is GOOGL Stock a Buy?
Alphabet stock has a consensus Strong Buy rating among 39 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 30 Buy and nine Hold recommendations issued in the last three months. There are no Sell ratings on the stock. The average GOOGL price target of $201.57 implies 23.25% upside potential from current levels.