Google sales and profits top analysts’ estimates

GOOGLE, owner of the world’s largest internet search engine, reported sales and profit that topped analysts’ estimates, a sign the company is benefiting from an effort to expand into mobile and display advertising.

Second-quarter sales, excluding revenue passed on to partner sites, rose to $6.92 billion, Mountain View, California-based Google said on its website. That topped $6.57bn, the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net income climbed 36% to $2.51bn, or $7.68 a share, from $1.84bn, or $5.71, a year earlier.

Chief executive Larry Page, who succeeded Eric Schmidt in April, is using ads on mobile devices and the YouTube video site to lessen Google’s dependence on traditional internet search. The company will command 41% of the US online advertising market this year, up from 39% in 2010, according to EMarketer Inc, a New York-based researcher.