Google has reported 17% rise in its profits during the fourth quarter ended 31 December 2013 to $3.38bn, despite the ongoing drop in prices for its online ads and huge losses at Motorola Mobility, which is to be acquired by China’s Lenovo.
Google CEO Larry Page said that the Q4 was great quarter of momentum and growth with standalone revenue rising by 22% year on year, at $15.7bn.
"We made great progress across a wide range of product improvements and business goals. I’m also very excited about improving people’s lives even more with continued hard work on our user experiences," Page said.
During the quarter, paid clicks on Google’s online ads increased by 31%, while the average cost per click paid by marketers dropped by 11%.
Google also generated consolidated revenues of $16.86bn for the quarter ended December 2013, compared from $14.42bn generated during the corresponding year ago quarter.
The search major’s advertising rate has been stressed as majority of its users’ access its online services via mobile devices including smartphones and tablets, where ad rates are less when compared to PCs.
Revenue generated by Google-owned sites reached $10.55bn, which accounts for 67% of overall segment revenues, while its partner sites generated segment revenues of $3.52bn and contributed to 23% of total segment revenues and revenues from other segments reached $1.65bn.
Segment revenues generated outside of the US totalled $8.77bn, representing 56% of the overall Google segment revenues during the quarter, while segment revenues from the UK reached $1.50bn, accounting for 10% of overall segment revenues.
