This kinda makes me feel I should have tried harder.
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Google Inc. reported third-quarter gains Thursday in profit and sales that topped Wall Street estimates, fulfilling expectations that the Internet giant would start benefiting early from an anticipated recovery in the online advertising market.

Google (GOOG 544.71, +14.80, +2.79%) said net income for the quarter ended in September rose to $1.64 billion, or $5.13 a share, from $1.29 billion, or $4.06 a share in the same period last year. Net revenue for the period ended in September rose nearly 1% to $4.38 billion. Excluding special items, earnings for the quarter were $5.89 a share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected Google to post earnings excluding items of $5.42 a share, and $4.24 billion in net revenue.

"While there is a lot of uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, we believe the worst of the recession is behind us and now feel confident about investing heavily in our future," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in a statement.

Google said its paid clicks, or number of times users clicked on its online advertisements and generated revenue, grew 14% compared to the same period last year, and 4% compared to the prior period.

However, the average price paid by advertisers per click fell 6% compared to the period last year, while increasing 5% over the prior period.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-beats-estimates-shares-higher-in-premarket-2009-10-16