Google has reported third quarter earnings of $1.35bn, proving
company predictions that
online ad revenues would help buck the economic downturn.
This represents an increase of 31% compared with the same period
last year and an increase of 3% compared with the second quarter of
2008.
The results immediately lifted investor confidence, with share
prices rising by over $44 to $397 in extended trading after closing
on the Nasdaq at $353.
Although shares have dropped 49% in the past year, Google's
latest profit figures support the firm's optimistic financial
outlook based on buoyant online ad revenues.
Google believes
online advertising will be immune from the budget cuts for TV
and print because ads alongside search results offer a measurable
return on investment.
Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer at Google, said, "We had a
good third quarter with strong traffic and revenue growth across
all of our major geographies, thanks to the underlying strength of
our core search and ads business."
Google said advertising revenue, including clicks related to ads
served on Google sites and the sites of its AdSense partners,
increased approximately 18% over the third quarter of 2007 and
increased approximately 4% over the second quarter of 2008.