Company: GOOGL
Filing Date: 2025-02-05
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001652044-25-000014
Chunk: 89

Company: Alphabet Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-05
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 89
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In addition, we may experience downward pressure on our operating margin resulting from a variety of factors, such as an increase in the mix of lower-margin products and services, in particular from the continued expansion of our business into new fields, including products and services such as our devices, Google Cloud, and consumer subscription products, as well as significant investments in Other Bets, all of which may have margins lower than those we generate from advertising. In particular, margins on our devices have had, and may continue to have, an adverse effect on our consolidated margins due to pressures on pricing and higher cost of sales. We may also experience downward pressure on our operating margins from increasing regulations, increasing competition, and increasing costs 

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Table of ContentsAlphabet Inc.

for many aspects of our business, including higher level of investment in technical infrastructure. Further, certain of our costs and expenses are generally less variable in nature and may not correlate to changes in revenue. We may also not be able to continue to execute our efficiency efforts successfully or in a timely manner. Due to these factors and the evolving nature of our business, our historical revenue growth rate and historical operating margin may not be indicative of our future performance. For additional information, see Trends in Our Business and Financial Effect and Revenues and Monetization Metrics in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 

Our intellectual property rights are valuable, and any inability to protect them could reduce the value of our products, services, and brands as well as affect our ability to compete. 

Our patents, trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights are important assets for us. Various events outside of our control pose a threat to our intellectual property rights, as well as to our products, services, and technologies. For example, effective intellectual property protection may not be available in every country in which our products and services are distributed or made available through the Internet. Also, the efforts we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient or effective. Although we seek to obtain patent protection for our innovations, it is possible we may not be able to protect some of these innovations. Moreover, we may not have adequate patent or copyright protection for certain innovations that later turn out to be important. There is always the possibility that the scope of the protection gained will be insufficient or that an issued patent may be deemed invalid or unenforceable. 

We also seek to maintain certain intellectual property as trade secrets. The secrecy of such trade secrets and other sensitive information