Google beats expectations for sales

Google Inc., owner of the world’s most popular search engine, posted sales that beat estimates as businesses spent more on advertising to online consumers. Third-quarter sales, excluding revenue passed on to partner sites, rose to $7.51 billion. That topped the $7.23 billion expected by analysts. Google is benefiting from growing demand for online advertising, including search-based marketing that makes up most of its sales. Profit, excluding some items, was $9.72 a share, beating the $8.76 expected by analysts. Even with more competition from Microsoft, Google gained US market share, according to Efficient Frontier Inc. Google had 82 percent of spending on search ads, up from 81 percent in the last two quarters.