INTERNET search engine Google has exceeded analysts’ expectations to post a 37% rise in first-quarter profits.
The company recorded profits of £1.3bn for the period as revenues rose by 23% to £4.4bn – the biggest rate of growth since the third quarter of 2008 – as more people clicked to view its online adverts.
Google recruited nearly 800 staff in the quarter, taking its total workforce to more than 20,600, while it pledged to invest in products and acquisitions.
The recruitment drive fuelled fears among investors that Google may abandon the financial discipline that it exerted during the recession.
But the firm said: “Hiring more people does not mean we are wasteful. It just means we have a great agenda.”
