“With the economy beginning to show signs of a recovery, Google’s growth continued in the fourth quarter as the company beat analyst estimates and saw revenue rise 17 percent from a year ago on strong ad sales. Revenue for the quarter ended December 31, excluding traffic acquisition costs, was $4.95 billion, slightly higher than the $4.92 billion analysts were expecting. Including those costs, Google posted total revenue of $6.67 billion. Earnings were $2.19 billion, or $6.79 a share, excluding stock-based compensation and other costs. That was higher than the analyst expectations of earnings per share of $6.50, and up from year-ago earnings of $1.62 billion, or $5.10 per share. Including all costs, earnings were $1.97 billion, or $6.13 a share, compared with $381 million, or $1.21 a share. Traffic acquisition costs, the portion of revenue shared with Google’s partners, totaled $1.72 billion and represented 27 percent of ad revenue.”
