Google search ads have lifted parent Alphabet close to Wall Street sales expectations, sending shares up on relief that the world's biggest seller of online advertising may withstand a global recession better than smaller rivals.
A trio of Alphabet executives sounded caution on a call with investment analysts, using "uncertain" or "uncertainty" at least 13 times to describe the economy.
YouTube ad sales grew at their slowest pace since disclosures began in 2018.
But investors focused elsewhere, notably on the fact that second-quarter sales from the company's biggest moneymaker - Google search - actually topped expectations.
Shares of Alphabet jumped 5.5% in after-hours trading following the results.
"Despite the underwhelming quarter, expectations were so low that investors blew a sigh of relief," said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com.
By contrast, shares of Snap fell more than 25% last week after the company missed sales expectations and warned of an ad market slowdown.
Alphabet executives said Google was not immune to the pullback, which has been brought on by clients facing product shortages, less demand and a variety of other factors.
Rising wages as well as rising prices of fuel and other items also have forced some ad buyers this year to pare marketing.
But Google has weathered storms better than social media companies. It brings in revenue through a greater variety of functions in the ad market, and search ads can be less expensive for customers to generate since they often include just text.
Clients sometimes prioritize search ads because the marketing is typically directed at people actively searching for related items, yielding better returns.
Travel and retail advertisers drove an increase of nearly 14% in search ad sales for Google during the second quarter, which at $40.69 billion beat FactSet estimates of $40.15 billion.
Overall, Alphabet reported second-quarter revenue of $69.69 billion, 81% coming from Google's ad business, and nearly in line with the average expectation of $69.88 billion among investment researchers tracked by Refinitiv.
"Google is relatively well positioned to weather the rough waters that lie ahead," Insider Intelligence analyst Evelyn Mitchell said.
