Google"s rapidly rising profits soared to new heights in the third quarter as its internet-leading search engine churned out a sevenfold earnings increase that blew past analyst expectations. The Mountain View, California-based company said Thursday that it made $381.2 million, during the three months ended in September. That compared with net income of $52 million, a year ago. Last year"s results included a $201 million charge to account for a legal settlement with rival Yahoo.
Google"s revenue for the quarter totaled $1.58 billion, nearly doubling from $805.9 million last year. After subtracting the commissions that Google paid to other websites in its advertising network, the revenue stood at $1.05 billion, exceeding the Wall Street estimate of $944 million.