Google first-quarter profit tops $1bn

Google has reported first-quarter profits of $1bn on turnover of $3.66bn

Google has released its financial results for the first quarter of 2007, reporting revenues of $3.66bn for the quarter ended 31 March 2007.

The figure represents an increase of 63 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2006, and an increase of 14 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2006.

Google turned in first-quarter profits of $1bn, a 69 per cent jump from the first quarter of last year.

"The global growth of our core search and ads business, and our focus on building our partnerships, drove our strong results in the quarter," said Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

"We continued to expand our worldwide footprint, adding important new partners and growing our platform to increase our ability to deliver targeted and measurable ads.

"The ongoing expansion of our network allows us to improve the user experience through new opportunities and programmes."

However, Google is facing antitrust and privacy concerns related to its $3.1bn purchase of DoubleClick, as well as a $1bn copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Viacom concerning thousands of YouTube videos. 

Google's share price fell $4.36 yesterday to close at $471.65, but rose to over $486 in after-hours trading.

• Google first quarter 2007 results (PDF)