Internet giant Google last night reported that its second-quarter earnings more than doubled as online advertising revenues rocketed. The company is building its Irish workforce to 600.
The Internet search leader said its net profit for the April-June period came to $721m, compared to $343m in the same quarter of 2005. The figure translated into earnings per share of $2.33 dollars, well ahead of Wall Street's target of $2.22.
Revenue surged 78% to $2.46 billion in the quarter as Google entrenched its dominance of Internet searches and the online advertisers they attract.
'Google grew at an impressive pace during a seasonally slower quarter,' company CEO Eric Schmidt said. 'We continue to deliver valuable new products and services to users around the world through our partnerships and investments in our business,' he said.
'Our strong performance results from our clear focus on increasing the quality of user experience, particularly in search and ads,' he added.
Google's stellar performance came after its leading rival Yahoo earlier this week unveiled quarterly earnings that were merely in line with analyst forecasts.
Combined with Yahoo's announcement that it was delaying the launch of its much-touted new advertising platform, the earnings statement sent the company's share price plummeting nearly 22%. Google, in contrast, remains a darling of investors and Wall Street.
The search titan said that in the quarter to June, revenues from Google-owned sites surged 94% to $1.43 billion. Sales from Google's partner sites generated through its popular 'AdSense' programme rose 58% to $997m.
The group does not give financial forecasts, but said its next investments would focus on computing infrastructure including servers, networking equipment and data centers, as well as property and facilities at its US base.
