Google Beats First Quarter Estimates

Google's first-quarter profit rose 37 percent, exceeding analyst estimates on both the earnings and revenue lines, suggesting that at least at Google, online advertising has picked up in the first quarter of 2010.

“Google performed very well in the first quarter, with 23 percent year-over-year revenue growth driven by strength across all major verticals and geographies,” said Patrick Pichette, Google CFO.

Google reported revenues of $6.77 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, an increase of 23 percent compared to the first quarter of 2009.

Google-owned sites generated revenues of $4.44 billion, or 66 percent of total revenues in the first quarter of 2010. This represents a 20 percent increase over first quarter 2009 revenues of $3.69 billion.

Google’s partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $2.04 billion, or 30 percent of total revenues, in the first quarter of 2010. This represents a 24 percent increase from first quarter 2009 network revenues of $1.64 billion.

Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $3.58 billion, representing 53 percent of total revenues in the first quarter of 2010, compared to 53 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 and 52 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

Revenues from the United Kingdom totaled $842 million, representing 13 percent of revenues in the first quarter of 2010, compared to 13 percent in the first quarter of 2009.