Google posts Q1 revenue of $5.19-bn

MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: Google Inc. has posted a revenue of $5.19 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008, an increase of 42 per cent when compared to the $3.66 billion posted for the corresponding quarter a year ago.

"Our ongoing innovation in search, ads, and apps helped drive healthy growth globally across our product lines, yielding another strong quarter for Google," said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google.

"As we integrate DoubleClick into our advertising platform, we see new ways to improve the user experience and increase value for our advertisers and partners. Also, while exercising operational discipline, we continue to explore opportunities that add value to users everywhere and to Google in the long term," he added.

Google-owned sites generated revenue of $3.40 billion, or 66 per cent of total revenue, in the first quarter of 2008. This represents a 49 per cent increase over first quarter 2007.

The company’s partner sites generated revenue, through AdSense programs, of $1.69 billion, or 33 per cent of total revenue, in the first quarter of 2008. This represents a 25 per cent increase over network revenue of $1.35 billion generated in the first quarter of 2007.

On a worldwide basis, Google employed 19,156 full-time employees as of March 31, 2008, up from 16,805 full-time employees as of December 31, 2007.

Of the 2,351 employees added in the first quarter of 2008, over 1,500 were associated with DoubleClick. Since the close of the acquisition, Google has conducted a review of its ongoing headcount requirements and approximately 10 per cent of the DoubleClick workforce was laid off in the US in early April.

Google's results for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, include the operations of DoubleClick Inc. from the date of acquisition, March 11, 2008, through the end of the quarter.