Google ready for acquisitions after spectacular 3Q

Internet search giant giant Google said that it is now  confident about investing heavily in its future after posting higher-than-expected third-quarter profits and revenues yesterday, its largest third-quarter profit in its 11-year history.

The Mountain View-based search company, which makes most of its money from advertising on its web contents, reported revenues of $5.94 billion in the third quarter of 2009, representing a 7 per cent increase over third quarter 2008 revenues of $5.54 billion.

Google's operating income in the third quarter of 2009 was $2.07 billion, or 35 per cent of revenues, and a net income was $1.64 billion, or $5.13 a share, compared with $1.29 billion, ($4.06 per share) a year earlier, which was mainly due to its ongoing cost cutting measures announced in January. (See: Google cuts down on staff and operations)

"Google had a strong quarter--we saw 7 per cent year-over-year revenue growth despite the tough economic conditions," said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. "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."

With the recession behind, Google plans to hire engineers and sales personnel as well as invest in new projects, said Schmidt

It was the search giant's largest posted third-quarter profit in its 11-year history, a remarkable feat considering that the US was facing its worst recession since World War 11, says analysts.