Google, the internet search engine, has announced strong results for the first three months of this year.
Net profit for the quarter was $1.42bn (£0.95bn), up 9% compared with the $1.31bn posted a year earlier.
Revenues came in at $5.51bn, 6% higher than for the same period last year but a decrease of 3% on the last quarter.
The results were better than many analysts had expected bearing in mind the recession in the US and the general downturn in advertising spending.
'Uncharted territory'
"Google had a good quarter given the depth of the recession," said Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.
"These results underline both the resilience of our business model and the ongoing potential of the web as users and advertisers shift online," he added.
Mr Schmidt did, however, admit that Google had been affected by the economic downturn.



full story: BBC NEWS | Business | Google reports stronger profits