Click to enlarge

Google's second-quarter revenue fared slightly better than earnings, rising 39 per cent to $US5.37 billion from $US3.87 billion at the same time last year, according to the report.

According to the report, more than half the revenue — $US2.8 billion — came from international markets, helping to offset some of the economic weakness in the United States.

The number of paid clicks on the Web sites operated by Google and its partners during the second quarter actually fell 1 per cent from the first quarter, the first downturn that the company has ever reported in the category and the 19 per cent increase in Google's paid clicks also was the company's lowest ever, according to the report.

However many analysts pointed out one of the key factors that tainted Google's results came from a 57 per cent drop in interest income. Google used $US3.2 billion of its invested cash to buy DoubleClick in March, bringing its interest income down to $US58 million from $US137 million in the year-ago quarter.