Google profit leaps 46%

19th October 2007

The world's leading search engine made $1.07 billion (£500 million) in the third quarter of this year, a 46 per cent increase from the same period in 2006.

Google's announcement beat analyst expectations of the company's profit for what is traditionally a slow period in web search. Google stands to make over $3 billion after paying commission to its advertising partners, which is $70 million more than the average analyst estimate, reports Reuters.

Shares in the company have risen to $639.62, a rise of $139 over the last 11 months.

Revenue reached $4.23 billion and Google attributed its profit surge to a 45 per cent increase in pay-per-click adverts.

"Search quality improvements are paying off, especially internationally, where we're doing better and better in each country," the Guardian cites chief executive Eric Schmidt as saying.

A recent survey by comScore revealed that Google performs 60 per cent of all global searches, beating rival competitors Yahoo! and Microsoft.