Google has reported a 69 per cent rise in quarterly net profit and saw its stock rise 3 per cent.
Net income in the first quarter rose to $1.0 billion, or $3.18 per share, from the $592 million, or $1.95 a share reported in the same quarter a year earlier. The result beat the average Wall Street forecast of $2.91 per share.
Gross revenue rose 63 per cent to $3.66 billion, including traffic acquisition costs of $1.13 billion paid to websites that act as billboards for Google ads. It said the terms of some of the company's big new advertising partnerships were driving up the costs of acquiring customers.
Wall Street expected revenue, on average, of $3.57 billion, with estimates ranging from $3.43 billion to $3.70 billion.
Hiring grew 15 per cent to 12,238 at the end of March, reflecting Google's expansion in many new directions.
Google shares, which had dipped $4.36 to close at $471.65 in the Nasdaq regular-session, rose to $485.50 following the results in after-hours trading.
Google is the world leader in pay-per-click advertising that runs alongside search results on its own sites and affiliated websites that serve as advertising partners.
But its rapid expansion into new markets has led entrenched rivals to launch a spate of attacks on the web-search leader.
Media conglomerate Viacom filed a $1 billion lawsuit accusing Google and its YouTube video sharing site of tolerating the piracy of copyrighted television programs.