Google posts positive results

Quarterly profit at Google jumped by 27 per cent

The advertising industry has received a confidence boost after Google posted positive quarterly results and said the worst of the recession is over.

The search giant posted a seven per cent revenue increase for the quarter ending 30 September over the same period last year, while profit rose by 27 per cent.

The number of clicks on online ads increased by 14 per cent and the number of searches performed through mobile phones also rose 30 per cent over the last quarter.

As Google controls the direction of online search markets, the positive numbers have confirmed the strength of the advertising sector, where spending in the UK alone hit £1.75bn in the first two quarters of the year, a 4.6 per cent year on year gain, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).

"Google had a strong quarter - we saw seven per cent year on year revenue growth despite the tough economic conditions," said Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive.

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

Earlier this year, Google cut 100 full-time staff after closing engineering offices worldwide and discontinuing less popular services in a bid to reduce costs.

The restructuring also included the closure of engineering offices in Austin, Texas; Trondheim, Norway; and Lulea, Sweden, as well as the withdrawal of Twitter-like services Jaiku and Dodgeball.