Alphabet Inc.

Section 2—Determining Competitive Levels of Pay

Our executive compensation decisions are informed by competitive market data in addition to the reviews of individual roles and performance. We use peer group data to obtain compensation benchmarks for our named executive officers.

Each year, we review our peer group and our evaluation criteria. In October 2024, we determined our peer group for 2025 compensation by evaluating potential comparator companies against the following criteria:

•High-technology or media company

•Key talent competitor

•High-growth, with a minimum of 50% of Alphabet’s revenue growth over the previous two-year period

•Headcount of at least 40% of Alphabet’s total headcount

•$50 billion or more in annual revenue

•$150 billion or more in market capitalization

Considering these criteria, in October 2024, the Compensation Committee selected the following peer companies for 2025:

When appropriate, we supplement publicly available peer group data with compensation data for comparable opportunities at other S&P 500 companies and startup organizations.

Process for Determining Compensation

We regularly review our compensation levels against our peer group and comparable opportunities. We also assess executives based on their individual performance and overall company performance. Management uses this information to develop compensation recommendations for our named executive officers. The Compensation Committee, comprised entirely of independent directors, then reviews these recommendations, considers any relevant guidance from their independent compensation consultants, and makes the final decision on compensation for our named executive officers. From time to time, the Compensation Committee may delegate specific responsibilities to a subcommittee (consisting solely of Compensation Committee members) to handle specialized tasks. The subcommittees report back to the full Compensation Committee or our Board, as appropriate.

Compensation Consultants

The Compensation Committee directly engaged both Compensia Inc. and Semler Brossy as independent compensation consultants in 2025. The consulting firms provide input, analysis, and guidance on Alphabet and Google’s executive compensation, peer groups, compensation design, equity usage and allocation, risk assessment, and human capital management. Both firms report directly to the Compensation Committee rather than to management, and the firms provided no services to Alphabet other than those in support of the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee has evaluated the independence of both consultants and concluded that their work does not raise any conflicts of interest.

Say-on-Pay and Say-When-on-Pay

We hold our advisory vote on named executive officer compensation (commonly known as a “say-on-pay” vote) every three years, and hold our advisory vote on the frequency of future say-on-pay votes (commonly known as “say-when-on-pay” vote) every six years. We are holding our advisory say-on-pay vote at the Annual Meeting (see Proposal Number 4 in this proxy statement). We will hold our advisory say-when-on-pay vote at the 2029 annual meeting of shareholders. The Compensation Committee annually reevaluates our compensation practices to determine how they might be improved and considers prior say-on-pay vote results, among other considerations, in such reevaluation.