On a product front, Google had a successful 2012. Android steadily gained ground on iOS, the public proved it wanted Google Maps more than Apple's inferior equivalent and Google+ increased its user base.

And on a numbers front, 2012 was Google's most profitable year yet.

$50 billion and counting

This week Google released its quarterly earnings for 2012, revealing it earned US $14.42 billion in the December quarter, up 26% from the same period in 2011.

The figure not only exceeded Wall Street's predictions of US $12.36 billion for the quarter, it also showed that Google earned a record US $50 billion in 2012.

The extra revenue is though to have come from Google's recent sale of Motorola's set top box division.

“We ended 2012 with a strong quarter. Revenues were up 36% year-on-year, and 8% quarter-on-quarter.

“In today’s multi-screen world we face tremendous opportunities as a technology company focused on user benefit. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be at Google,” wrote Google's CEO Larry Page in a press release.

However it wasn't all good news. Those multi-screens Page referred to are considered the reason Google's revenue from cost-per-click advertising fell by 6% per cent, as mobile devices ate into Google's advertising revenue.

Google growth

But on balance the report is good news for good Google, especially after its previous quarter earning were leaked, resulting in the company's stock price falling.

This time the market was more optimistic. Google's stock jumped 4% following this earnings announcement.

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