Alphabet Inc's Competitiveness
A competitive positioning analysis and financial ratio benchmarking of Alphabet Inc (GOOGL) against its publicly traded competitors: sales growth, net income, profitability, valuation and market share, plus each peer's market capitalization, revenue, income and employees. Free below: the top 5 peers. Subscriber access adds the full competitor list and CSV downloads.
Key Findings: Alphabet Inc vs Its Competitors
- TTM: Trailing 12-month revenue of 182,527M vs 46,201M combined for tracked competitors (79.8% combined share).
- Trending: Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+24.7% annualized vs trailing 12 months), vs decelerating (-40.8%) for its tracked peer group.
- Growth: Alphabet Inc generated 23.5% revenue growth year over year in Q4 2020, vs 24.7% for its tracked competitors combined.
- Profitability: Its 26.8% net margin compares with -7.8% for the peer group.
- Peer revenue share: Alphabet Inc accounted for 89.3% of combined revenue among its tracked peer group, down from 89.4% a year earlier.
- Peer differentiation: Revenue per employee of $3.95M compares with $0.62M for the peer group (6.3x).
Every figure above is sourced and cited in detail further down this page (Market Structure, Profitability & Cost Structure, Productivity vs Peers).
GOOGL Sales vs. its Competitors, Q4 2020
Alphabet Inc reported revenue growth of 23.49 % year on year in Q4 2020, below its competitors' combined revenue growth of 24.71 %.
With a net margin of 26.76 %, Alphabet Inc achieved higher profitability than its competitors (-7.76 %).
Alphabet Inc generated 89.27 % of the combined sales of its peer group, down from 89.36 % a year earlier.
Alphabet Inc vs. its Competitors, Q4 2020
Revenue growth, year on year
Net margin
Revenue run-rate vs trailing 12 months
TTM net margin
TTM = trailing twelve months. Run-rate annualizes the latest quarter (×4) and compares it to TTM. In millions of $. High-Confidence Competitors are named as a competitor directly in an SEC filing; Similar-Size Competitors are the closest peers by market-cap rank within the same industry; Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors are the closest peers by combined revenue growth, operating margin and ROIC, all independent of the competitor list.
TTM revenue, latest-quarter run-rate and net income/margin benchmarked across Alphabet Inc and its 4 competitor groupings. Available under Commercial License.
| Entity | TTM Revenue | Rev Run-rate vs TTM |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Competitors combined | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| High-Confidence Competitors (113) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
| Similar Growth & Profitability (6) | $12,345M | +12.3% · Accelerating |
TTM revenue, run-rate and net margin benchmarking across Alphabet Inc's competitor groups requires a Commercial License.
For context: the Internet Services & Social Media industry grew revenue 19.3% year over year, combined, vs 23.5% for Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc's share of combined industry revenue moved from 17.07% to 17.68%, a gain of 0.61 percentage points.
Alphabet Inc's Competitor Quality Breadth
Share of each group, trailing 12 months: profitable (net margin > 0), expanding (revenue growth > 0), growing faster than the industry's own median, and financially distressed (Piotroski F-Score of 2 or below).
| Entity | Profitable | Expanding | Above Industry Growth | Distressed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Competitors combined (17) | ||||
| High-Confidence Competitors (142) | ||||
| Similar Growth & Profitability (8) | 100.00 % (8 of 8) | 100.00 % (8 of 8) | 75.00 % (6 of 8) | 12.50 % (1 of 8) |
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Altman Z-Score is not shown here: it is not populated in the underlying data for any company. Percentages are of companies in each group that report the relevant metric, not of the full group size.
GOOGL Stock Performance relative to its Competitors
GOOGL Stock Performance relative to High-Confidence Competitors
GOOGL Stock Performance relative to Similar Growth & Profitability Competitors
5 Best-Performing Tracked Competitors, Trailing 12 Months
| # | Competitor | TTM Share Price Return | vs U.S.A. 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fastly Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 2 | Ringcentral Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 3 | Electrocore Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 4 | Palo Alto Networks Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
| 5 | Unusual Machines Inc | 282.9% | Outperformed |
TTM share price return and U.S.A. 500 outperformance for Alphabet Inc's best-performing tracked competitors requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months.
Alphabet Inc's Comment on Competition and Industry Peers
General purpose search engines and information services, such as Baidu, Microsofts Bing, Naver, Seznam, Verizons Yahoo, and Yandex.
Vertical search engines and e-commerce websites, such as Amazon and eBay (e-commerce), Bookings Kayak (travel queries), Microsofts LinkedIn (job queries), and WebMD (health queries). Some users will navigate directly to such content, websites, and apps rather than go through Google.
Social networks, such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter. Some users increasingly rely on social networks for product or service referrals, rather than seeking information through traditional search engines.
Other forms of advertising, such as billboards, magazines, newspapers, radio, and television. Our advertisers typically advertise in multiple media, both online and offline.
Other online advertising platforms and networks, including Amazon, AppNexus, Criteo, and Facebook, that compete for advertisers that use Google Ads, our primary auction-based advertising platform.
Providers of digital video services, such as Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Disney, Facebook, Hulu, Netflix and TikTok.
In businesses that are further afield from our advertising business, we compete with companies that have longer operating histories and more established relationships with customers and users. We face competition from:
Other digital content and application platform providers, such as Amazon and Apple.
Companies that design, manufacture, and market consumer hardware products, including businesses that have developed proprietary platforms.
Providers of enterprise cloud services, including Alibaba, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Digital assistant providers, such as Amazon and Apple.
Competing successfully depends heavily on our ability to deliver and distribute innovative products and technologies to the marketplace across our businesses. Specifically, for advertising, competing successfully depends on attracting and retaining:
Users, for whom other products and services are literally one click away, largely on the basis of the relevance of our advertising, as well as the general usefulness, security and availability of our products and services.
Advertisers, primarily based on our ability to generate sales leads, and ultimately customers, and to deliver their advertisements in an efficient and effective manner across a variety of distribution channels.
Content providers, primarily based on the quality of our advertiser base, our ability to help these partners generate revenues from advertising, and the terms of our agreements with them.
Publicly Traded Peers of Alphabet Inc
Revenue and income for trailing 12 months, in millions of $, except employees| Company | Market Cap | Revenues |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc | 5,433,033.98 | 182,527.00 |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc | 302,735.00 | 11,480.00 |
| Atlassian Corporation | 49,407.56 | 6,569.93 |
| The New York Times Company | 10,387.41 | 2,977.83 |
| Snap Inc | 9,398.49 | 6,351.08 |
| Ringcentral Inc | 6,783.13 | 2,584.64 |
| SUBTOTAL | 5,824,003.57 | 235,761.84 |
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Sources: Alphabet Inc's official press releases and regulatory filings; CSIMarket.com's market research; and the financial filings and press releases of the other companies cited.
Updated on:
Focus of this report: publicly traded companies. Ten additional tables on Alphabet Inc versus competitors, including market share analysis, are in the navigation menu under Competition. To download the tables, please subscribe.
Alphabet Inc's Competitors Named by the Company
Competitive relationships identified from SEC filings and corroborating sources, each with a basis and confidence.| Competitor | Basis | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Taboola com Ltd | Named by the company | 85% |
| Innovid Corp | Named by the company | 85% |
| Pubmatic Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Digital Turbine Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Liveperson Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Snap Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Microsoft Corporation | Named by the company | 85% |
| Nutanix Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Criteo S a | Named by the company | 85% |
| Trade Desk Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Unity Software Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Versus Systems Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Baidu Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Skillz Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| New Relic Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Coursera Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Tripadvisor Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Elastic N v | Named by the company | 85% |
| Nextdoor Holdings Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Applovin Corporation | Named by the company | 85% |
| Sentinelone Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Magnite Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Yelp Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Splunk Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Teads Holding Co | Named by the company | 85% |
| Trivago N v | Named by the company | 85% |
| Sonos Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| The Glimpse Group Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| ZI | Named by the company | 85% |
| Pc Connection Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| OB | Named by the company | 85% |
| Zoominfo Technologies Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Telenav Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Perion Network Ltd | Named by the company | 85% |
| Adt Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Professional Diversity Network Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Dropbox Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Taoweave Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Redcloud Holdings Plc | Named by the company | 85% |
| Direct Digital Holdings Inc | Named by the company | 85% |
Filing basis, confidence, active dates and source counts for Alphabet Inc's named competitors require a Commercial License.
Methodology: relationships are extracted from SEC filings (named-competitor disclosures) and corroborating sources. Named by the company = explicitly disclosed as a competitor; Inferred = derived from corroborating signals. Confidence reflects evidence strength.
Alphabet Inc's Business Segment Mix vs Peers
Revenue by operating segment or division, as named and reported by each company. Segment names are the filer's own and are not standardized across companies. Do not assume a same-named or similarly-named segment is defined identically between two companies. Shares are of each company's own total revenue and are not required to sum to 100% (intersegment revenue, unallocated items).| Company | Largest Segment |
|---|---|
| The New York Times Company | Reportable 100.00 % |
| Snap Inc | Reportable 100.00 % |
| Ringcentral Inc | Reportable 100.00 % |
| Yelp Inc | Reportable 100.00 % |
| Adapthealth Corp | Sleep Health 52.20 % |
Source: operating segment revenue as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API, leaf-level reportable segments only (parent roll-up segments are excluded where sub-segments are separately disclosed).
Alphabet Inc's Productivity vs Peers Comparison
Revenue and income per employee, trailing 12 months, in $; market cap in millions of $| Company | Market Cap | Revenue / Employee | Income / Employee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc | 5,433,034 | 3,948,750 | 871,171 |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc | 302,735 | 523,699 | 14,005 |
| Atlassian Corporation | 49,408 | 493,943 | -4,047 |
| The New York Times Company | 10,387 | 496,304 | 65,471 |
| Snap Inc | 9,398 | 1,207,201 | -59,160 |
| Ringcentral Inc | 6,783 | 350,316 | 14,944 |
| PEERS TOTAL | 390,970 | 622,797 | 3,770 |
Alphabet Inc's Geographic Revenue Exposure vs Peers
Revenue by country/region as reported in each company's most recent filing. Disclosure granularity varies by filer (some report by country, others by broad region) and is shown as disclosed.| Company | Largest Market |
|---|---|
| Palo Alto Networks Inc | United States 61.76 % |
| Atlassian Corporation | United States 42.00 % |
| Snap Inc | North America 56.59 % |
| Fastly Inc | United States 71.36 % |
| Unusual Machines Inc | Geographic Distribution Foreign 7.41 % |
Source: revenue geography as reported in each company's SEC filings (10-K/10-Q), via the CSIMarket API. Percentages are of that company's own total consolidated revenue for its most recent reported period.
Alphabet Inc's Position in Industry Market Structure
Market-capitalization share and concentration across all 75 companies in Alphabet Inc's industry classification, broader than the peer set above. Market cap in millions of $.Alphabet Inc ranks #0 of 75 companies by market capitalization in its industry, holding 0.00 % of total industry market cap. The industry's Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) is 6,299, indicating a highly concentrated market structure (U.S. antitrust guidance: below 1,500 unconcentrated, 1,500 to 2,500 moderately concentrated, above 2,500 highly concentrated).
| Rank | Company | Market Cap | Industry Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meta Platforms Inc | 1,878,081 | 79.12 % |
| 2 | Applovin Corporation | 96,818 | 4.08 % |
| 3 | Nebius Group n v | 58,648 | 2.47 % |
| 4 | Gds Holdings Limited | 51,129 | 2.15 % |
| 5 | Rentokil Initial Plc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 6 | Thomson Reuters Corporation | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 7 | Zoom Communications Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 8 | Digitalocean Holdings Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 9 | Flutter Entertainment Plc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 10 | Gartner Inc | 1,234 | 5.2% |
| 0 | Alphabet Inc | 5,140,479 | 0.00 % |
Market cap and industry share for the rest of Alphabet Inc's industry peers requires a Commercial License.
Source: CSIMarket API (daily market-structure computation) across CSIMarket's industry classification, market capitalization as of 2026-06-01.
Alphabet Inc's Strategic Group Map
Every company in Alphabet Inc's industry and named-competitor list, plotted by trailing 12-month revenue growth and operating margin. Alphabet Inc is shown in red; its closest peers by combined growth, margin and ROIC (the Similar Growth & Profitability group above) are labeled.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Extreme outlier values (from near-zero-revenue companies) are excluded from the plotted cloud but never from the highlighted company or its labeled peers.
Alphabet Inc's Competitive Forces (Porter's Five Forces)
Only the forces this data can support honestly are shown; the other three are marked as such rather than guessed.| Force | Assessment | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Competitive Rivalry | Low | Industry HHI of 6,299 (see Industry Market Structure & Concentration above) |
| Supplier Power | Not covered on this page | See Alphabet Inc's dedicated suppliers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Buyer Power | Not covered on this page | See Alphabet Inc's dedicated customers page for concentration and dependency data |
| Threat of Substitutes | - | No systematic data source for cross-product substitution exists in this system; not estimated |
Note: this is a partial, data-grounded application of the framework, not a complete strategic assessment. Rivalry and barriers-to-entry readings are mechanical translations of the HHI and capital-intensity figures shown elsewhere on this page, not independent judgments.
Alphabet Inc's Industry Attractiveness & Competitive Strength
A CSIMarket composite, not a standard field: each axis is an equal-weighted average of three factors already shown elsewhere on this page (industry growth, industry profitability and rivalry for attractiveness; relative market share, profitability and growth vs industry for strength). Disclosed as a designed methodology, not a precision measurement.
Alphabet Inc falls in the High attractiveness / High strength cell: Invest / Grow.
Source: CSIMarket API, trailing 12 months. Each axis score is a simple 1(low)/2(medium)/3(high) average across its three inputs -- a transparent, disclosed simplification, not a validated academic scoring model.
Alphabet Inc's SWOT
Every point below is a fixed rule applied to a metric already shown elsewhere on this page (Market Structure, Profitability, Valuation, Run-Rate, Stock Performance, Quality Breadth) not an independent strategic assessment. A blank quadrant means no rule was met, not that none apply.Strengths
- Latest-quarter revenue run-rate is accelerating (+24.7% annualized vs trailing 12 months).
- Outperforming the U.S.A. 500 over the trailing 12 months.
Weaknesses
No rule matched.
Opportunities
No rule matched.
Threats
- Industry dominated by Meta Platforms Inc , holding 79.12 % of industry market cap.
- Tracked peer group's revenue run-rate is broadly decelerating (-40.8% annualized).
Methodology: mechanical, rule-based SWOT. Each bullet reuses a figure already sourced and cited elsewhere on this page; nothing here is generated narrative or independent analyst judgment.
Alphabet Inc's Financial Strength vs Peers Comparison
Quick ratio, working capital, debt to equity and asset turnover, trailing 12 months| Company | Quick Ratio | Working Capital | Debt / Equity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc | - | 3.36 | 0.04 |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc | 0.30 | 0.91 | 0.04 |
| Atlassian Corporation | 0.56 | 0.98 | 0.85 |
| The New York Times Company | 0.37 | 1.56 | - |
| Snap Inc | 0.78 | 3.40 | 1.68 |
| Ringcentral Inc | 0.14 | 0.80 | - |
Quick ratio = cash / current liabilities; working capital ratio = current assets / current liabilities; asset turnover = revenue / total assets. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Alphabet Inc's Revenue and Income Growth vs Peers
Quarterly revenue and net income growth, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Revenue Y/Y | Income Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc | Q4 2020 | +23.5 % | +42.7 % |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc | Q2 2026 | +34.4 % | - |
| Atlassian Corporation | Q2 2026 | +27.6 % | - |
| The New York Times Company | Q2 2026 | +11.2 % | +12.6 % |
| Snap Inc | Q2 2026 | +18.9 % | - |
| Ringcentral Inc | Q2 2026 | +6.1 % | +196.5 % |
| PEERS TOTAL | +21.9 % | +40.4 % |
Growth is shown only where both periods are positive. Peers in the Blank Checks industry are excluded.
Alphabet Inc's Peers' Costs of Sales and Capital Expenditures
Context for revenue growth: peer costs and capex, year over year and quarter over quarter| Company | Period | Costs Y/Y | Capex Y/Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc | Q4 2020 | +24.0 % | -9.5 % |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc | Q2 2026 | +62.9 % | +19.4 % |
| Atlassian Corporation | Q2 2026 | +1.5 % | -8.6 % |
| The New York Times Company | Q2 2026 | +8.6 % | -2.2 % |
| Snap Inc | Q2 2026 | +2.2 % | -13.9 % |
| Ringcentral Inc | Q2 2026 | +3.8 % | +14.0 % |
Alphabet Inc's Returns and Turnover vs Peers
ROA, ROI and ROE (trailing 12 months), receivables and inventory turnover| Company | ROA | ROI | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc | 13.76% | 16.22% | 19.03% |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc | 0.87% | 0.81% | 1.71% |
| Atlassian Corporation | - | - | - |
| The New York Times Company | 13.40% | 18.80% | 19.47% |
| Snap Inc | - | - | - |
| Ringcentral Inc | 7.59% | 15.31% | - |
ROA = net income / total assets; ROI = net income / investments; ROE = net income / equity; turnover ratios use trailing 12 month revenue (receivables) and cost of sales (inventory).
Alphabet Inc's Valuation vs Peers
P/E, price to sales, PEG, price to cash flow and price to book| Company | P/E | Price / Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Inc | 135.54 | 29.77 |
| Palo Alto Networks Inc | 808.67 | 26.37 |
| Atlassian Corporation | - | 7.52 |
| The New York Times Company | 26.56 | 3.49 |
| Snap Inc | - | 1.48 |
| Ringcentral Inc | 63.15 | 2.62 |
| PEERS AVERAGE | 143.48 | 24.70 |
P/E = price / diluted EPS (trailing 12 months); PEG = P/E divided by EPS growth; the average row divides the peers' combined market cap by their combined income, sales, cash flow and equity.