Google shares hit record highs after profit report beats expectations

Google has reported a profit of $2.97 billion for July -September period, beating expectations.

The company missed forecasts during the last quarter.

However, a closely watched measure, cost per click – how much advertisers pay to place an advert – declined by 8% from the same period last year.

Google shares jumped to an all time high in after hours trading, rising 6% to $941.25.

The company’s boss Larry Page said in a statement that: “Google had another strong quarter with…great product progress.”

Overall, paid clicks increased by 28% from the same time last year, and were up 8% from the previous quarter.

This is taken as a good sign by analysts, as advertising makes up the dominant share of Google’s profits.

In a call to discuss earnings with investors, Larry Page highlighted just how dominant mobile has become among consumers.

He said that 40% of users reached YouTube through their mobile phones compared to just 6% two years earlier.

Analysts were closely watching how Google is faring in this mobile transition, particularly as it relates to advertising.

Google charges less for mobile than for its traditional web browser ads, which is why even though ad sales increased throughout the quarter, the cost per click figure declined.

Google’s market share in the ad market is $6.9%. This has recently slipped slightly as rival Facebook has made inroads. Facebook now has 14.9% of the market, a jump from 9% last year.