Google Beats Forecasts After Impressive Profit Hike

Schmidt said to expect Google to continue acquiring a company per month, mostly on the small side, in 2010. The company reportedly almost acquired Yelp and is said to be eyeing real-estate-related properties such as Trulia as it seeks to expand its location and commerce-related search.

In other financial facts, Google said its traffic acquisition costs – the portion of revenues that Google shares with its ad partners – accounted for 27 percent of Google’s revenues in the fourth quarter, totalling $1.72 billion (£1 billion).

Paid clicks for ads served on Google sites and those of its AdSense partners increased 13 percent from fourth-quarter 2008 and 9 percent over third-quarter 2009.

Google has $24.5 billion (£15.1 billion) in cash. The company employed 19,835 full-time employees through 31 December, 2009, up from 19,665 full-time employees through 30 September, 2009.