Google net income up 26%

Google has reported a 26% jump in its net income to $2.73 billion in the third of 2011, helped by robust advertising business.

The company had a net income of $2.17 billion during the July-September quarter of 2010, Google said in a statement.

Google attributed its strong quarterly numbers to growing advertising business. In addition, the company's social networking site, Google Plus, and Android smartphones are also gaining traction.

The firm registered revenues of $9.72 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, an increase of 33% over $7.28 billion in the same period last year.

"We had a great quarter...Revenue was up 33% year-on-year and our quarterly revenue was just short of $10 billion," Google CEO Larry Page said.

Further he stated that Google Plus is now open to everyone and just passed the 40 million user mark. People are flocking into Google Plus at an incredible rate, he added.

Last month, the internet giant opened Google Plus for everyone. Earlier, the service was available only through invitation as part of trial runs.

Google's rate of paid clicks, which reflects the number of times users click on ads and generate revenue, jumped 28% compared to the year-ago period.

Besides, the prices paid by advertisers on Google sites grew by 5% over third quarter of 2010, however, it fell 5% compared to the preceding quarter.