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Google beats fourth-quarter estimates

<b style="color:#900;">blog</b> Revenue rose 67 percent and profit nearly tripled on continued strength in company's cash-cow paid search business.

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
Elinor Mills

Google's fourth-quarter revenue rose 67 percent on continued strength in its cash-cow paid search business, beating analyst estimates.

Net earnings for the quarter ended December 31 were $1.03 billion, or $3.29 a share, including one-time items such as stock-based compensation, compared with $372 million, or $1.22 a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Excluding those items, earnings were $997 million, or $3.18 a share.

Total revenue rose 67 percent to $3.2 billion, compared with $1.92 billion a year ago. Excluding traffic acquisition costs, or commission paid to content partners, revenue was $2.23 billion, slightly higher than estimates.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting Google to post earnings per share of $2.92 excluding items, and revenue of $2.19 billion, excluding traffic acquisition costs.