Profits outstripped analyst expectations at $1.1bn (£500m) for the quarter

Google's revenues were up by nine per cent to $4.2bn (£2.1bn) for the third quarter, a 57 per cent rise on the previous year.

Net profits stood at $1.1bn (£500m) for the period, compared with $925m (£453m) in the second quarter.

The figures released yesterday outstripped analyst expectations.

With so much cash being generated - $4.1bn (£2bn) so far this year to add to $13.1bn (£6.5bn) in the bank - Google is likely to spend more on further acquisitons, said Ovum analyst David Bradshaw.

"Google plans to spend $3.1bn on DoubleClick - provided the regulators on both sides of the Atlantic let this happen, by no means a certainty - and it has offered the FCC a 'surety' of up to $4.6bn in the complex struggle over wireless net neutrality," he said.

"The latter payment would not fall due until next year if at all, so by our reckoning Google still has plenty of acquisition capacity."