Google's parent Alphabet results hit by rising traffic costs, strong dollar

Google's parent Alphabet Inc missed Wall Street targets for first-quarter profit and revenue on Thursday as it spent more money to build traffic for its mobile advertising services. Alphabet's consolidated revenue rose to $20.26 billion (14 billion pounds) from $17.26 billion, slightly below the $20.37 billion analyst consensus, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Non-GAAP earnings per share of $7.50, excluding one-time items, missed analysts' expectations of $7.97. Chief Financial Officer Rut