Google’s stock slid today and it might be because of this report on a search ad decline

Shares of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, dropped close to 3 percent on Friday, the sharpest decline in nearly two months.

One potential culprit: An analyst note from Citigroup that predicts a drop in search ads — the cornerstone of the entire Alphabet business — in the second quarter. After polling search ad marketers, Citigroup noted a “slight deceleration” in spending that could spell a miss in Google’s revenue, a repeat of last quarter.

For years now, Google has faced a steady decline in the amount it brings in per ad click, thanks largely to more mobile devices, but it has kept steady sales growth up enough to appease Wall Street.

Worth noting: Citigroup only polled two firms, which control around $5 billion in annual spending; Google brought in $16 billion in ad sales during just the second quarter last year. And stocks trended downward for most big tech companies today, so it’s hard to peg the singular decline to the report.

Plus, the Citigroup note ends with a “buy” option on Alphabet, writing that its valuation is still “attractive.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via