Google Releases Rosier First Quarter Report

April 18, 2008 8:13 a.m. EST

Mountain View, CA (AHN) - Internet giant Google Thursday quieted critics and surprised analysts, reporting first-quarter income rose 31 percent to $1.3 billion compared to $1 billion the previous year.

Revenue for the search company hit $5.19 billion, up from $3.6 billion. Google reported net revenue of $3.7 billion, beating analyst expectations of $3.6 billion.

The healthy first-quarter returns sent Google shares to $500, a rebound from stock that had been slipping amid questions about Google's advertising revenue.

Google rival Yahoo Tuesday is expected to release it first-quarter report.