Google's parent company reports a drop in profits, while ad sales rise

Alphabet Inc.’s quarterly earnings were dented by heavy investment in Google’s cloud-computing business, which is key to future growth but still runs a distant third in the market behind Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.Net income in the third quarter was $7.1 billion, down from $9.2 billion in the same period a year earlier, the company reported on Monday. Executives said the company will keep spending to pursue opportunities in cloud, artificial intelligence and co