Yahoo Finance Alphabet (GOOGL) to Boost Google Chrome App With New Feature
Alphabet’s GOOGL Google is developing a built-in "Listen to this page" text-to-speech capability for Chrome on Android.
The users will get a new "Listen to this page" option, which will open on Android’s three-dot overflow menu, launching a mini-player with a circular play/pause button, page title, site name, progress bar and close button.
Moreover, tapping this option will open a sheet UI with a timeline scrubber, rewind/fast forward buttons, playback speed adjustment, highlight text & auto-scroll, and voice options.
The upcoming update is expected to improve the user experience and functionality of the Chrome browser, which, in turn, will likely increase the company's web browsing traffic.
Moreover, Alphabet is expected to gain solid traction across Android users on the back of its latest move.
Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus
Alphabet Inc. price-consensus-chart | Alphabet Inc. Quote
Growing Google Chrome Initiatives
Apart from the latest move, Alphabet introduced an Incognito mode in Google Chrome, which allows users to browse the web without any trace, removing browsing history and tracking data after closing the browser, a feature that some interpret as private browsing.
Earlier, Alphabet added 120 features to Google Chrome, including Tab Groups for easy access on other desktop devices and Safety Check, which automatically runs in the background to alert users when saved passwords are compromised or harmful extensions are installed.
Google also added a high-level shortcut to "Clear browsing data" on Android for Google Chrome, appearing in Chrome's main overflow menu. The feature allows users to remove specific browsing data increments, with the default being 15 minutes.
The company revamped its New Tab Page for Google Chrome, featuring a thicker search bar, bolder hint text, distinct voice microphone and Lens icons, and a smaller Google logo, similar to Gmail and Google Chat.
Google also unveiled in-browser price insights across Chrome, allowing users to predict future price changes. The feature also features a 90-day price history graph, price drop emails and a new Shopping list folder.
To Conclude
The company’s growing endeavors to bolster its Google Chrome app will boost Google’s Search revenues. This, in turn, is expected to strengthen the Google Services segment that remains the key growth catalyst for Alphabet. Its shares have rallied 56.1% in the past year compared with the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s growth of 45.1%.
The strengthening Google Services segment is expected to aid its overall financial performance in the days ahead.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 total revenues stands at $283.39 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 11.26%.
The consensus mark for 2024 earnings is pegged at $6.74 per share, which has risen by 5 cents in the past 30 days.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are Arista Networks ANET, DigitalOcean DOCN and Itron ITRI, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Arista Networks shares have returned 116.5% over the past year. The long-term earnings growth rate for ANET is pegged at 19.77%.
Shares of DigitalOcean have returned 23.2% over the past year. The long-term earnings growth rate for DOCN is currently projected at 31.26%.
Shares of Itron have gained 22.3% over the past year. The long-term earnings growth rate for ITRI is currently projected at 23%.
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