Google sees economic revival in rising revenues

(AFP /Paul J. Richards)

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt proclaimed the worst of the economic storm over Thursday as the Internet powerhouse reported quarterly revenue surged seven percent to 5.94 billion dollars.

"Google had a strong quarter -- we saw seven percent year-over-year revenue growth despite the tough economic conditions," Schmidt said in a release.

"While there is a lot of uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, we believe the worst of the recession is behind us and now feel confident about investing heavily in our future," he said.

Google reported that net profit for the quarter ending September 30 rose to 1.64 billion dollars, or 5.13 dollars per share, as compared to 1.29 billion dollars, or 4.06 dollars per share, in the same period last year.

The California-based firm has continued to profit through the global financial turmoil thanks to revenue from online ads posted with search results.

It has also starting squeezing advertising money out of video-sharing website YouTube.

The earnings results come a day after online tracking firm comScore reported that Google increased its share of the US search market to 64.9 percent in September from 64.6 percent in August.