Alphabet revenue fell below analysts’ expectations in the third quarter, it announced on Tuesday, as it continues to battle an industry-wide tech slowdown. The company reported a third quarter revenue of $69bn, up 6% from last year but lower than analyst estimates of $70.9bn. Like many tech and social media firms, Alphabet is struggling to compete with TikTok amid a broader economic downturn. “Once again, YouTube growth slowed to a crawl amid tough competition from TikTok and other players in the video-streaming space,” said Jesse Cohen, senior analyst at Investing.com. “Alphabet is being negatively impacted by worsening macroeconomic headwinds, such as soaring inflation and worries about a possible recession.” Chief executive Sundar Pichai said in a statement that Alphabet is “sharpening [its] focus on a clear set of product and business priorities”, including new ways to monetize YouTube shorts and improvements to Search and Cloud. Shares were down more than 5% in after hours trading as the miss bolstered ongoing concerns about the impact of recession fears and other macroeconomic headwinds. The miss comes after poor results from its smaller rival Snap sparked inflation fears in the tech sector and temporarily wiped out $40bn in market capitalization. Advertising spending tends to slow during economic downturns, and Alphabet’s disappointing earnings show it is not immune to such challenges, experts said. Google’s advertising revenue was $54.5bn in the third quarter, compared with $53.1bn last year, but came in below analysts’ expectations. “Despite being seen as one of the most insulated companies in the advertising space relative to peers, Google’s poor quarter is the latest sign that worsening fundamentals and a tough macroeconomic environment are prompting advertisers to cut back on spending,” Cohen said. The report comes as the tech sector makes a departure from years of gains throughout the pandemic. Alphabet in August announced it would slow and even freeze hiring in some departments. Microsoft also reported lower-than-expected earnings on Tuesday, with a 14% drop in profit for the July-September quarter compared to the same time last year. With the ongoing slowdown, investors will be keeping a close eye on other tech giants this week, as Meta, Amazon, Apple and Uber also share results in coming days.