Google earns more than a $1 billion

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Google Inc.'s first-quarter profit climbed 30 percent to surpass analysts' predictions in a performance that alleviated some of the economic worries that have hammered the Internet search leader's stock this year.

The news, released after the stock market closed Thursday, lifted Google's recently drooping shares more than 11 percent.

The Mountain View, California-based company said it earned $1.31 billion ($830 million), or $4.12 per share, during the first three months of the year. That compared with $1 billion, or $3.18 per share, in the first quarter of 2007.

If not for expenses to cover stock given its employees, Google said it would have made $4.84 per share.

That figure outstripped the average projection of $4.52 per share among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.