Google has announced that second-quarter net profit more than doubled as it countered a trend of slowing growth that has hurt rivals Yahoo and Ebay.
The results, which significantly beat market expectations, sent Google's shares up as much as 2 per cent in after-hours trade.
Favourable tax rates, combined with a higher percentage of revenue coming from Google.com rather than through outside advertising affiliate deals, pushed profit margins higher.
Quarterly net income rose to $721 million from the year-earlier quarter's $343 million. Revenue rose 77 per cent to $2.46 billion.
Debate is raging over whether Google - which enjoys growth rates two and three times faster than other major Internet companies - is vulnerable to slowing industry trends or is itself a disruptive force wresting share away from rivals.
Google's stock rose $3.70, or 1 per cent, to $390 in after-hours trade, after jittery investors drove it down 3 per cent to $387.12 in regular session trading on Nasdaq ahead of the results. The stock has lost 6 per cent so far this year.