Google announced on Tuesday, Jan.22, 2013 that its fourth-quarter earnings beat expectations,

As Google reported, as investors were watching closely for encouraging signals of Google's progress in the evolution to a mobile world, that its profit improved 6.7% over the period last year, as the weight of recent, $12.4 billion acquisition Motorola Mobility lightened somewhat. However, revenue fell slightly short and its advertising rates fell less than in previous quarters.

Google's net income was $2.89 billion or $8.62 per share during the final three months of last year. That compared to net income of $2.71 billion, or $8.22 per share, at the same time last year.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "The quarter is good, but it doesn't change the framework with which we evaluate Google, which shows faster growth out of lower-margin parts of their business," said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan.

According to The New York Times, a decrease in the price that advertisers pay Google each time someone clicks on an ad, known as cost per click is the clue that Google improved at crucial challenges. The trend has been driven by the increasing use of Google on mobile devices - where advertisers largely pay less for ads - at the expense of the desktop computer.

The company reported an increase of 36 percent over the year-ago quarter that is fourth-quarter revenue of $14.42 billion. Net revenue was $11.34 billion, up from $8.13 billion after excluding payments to the company's advertising partners.

Net income increased 13 percent to $10.65 a share.

The New York Times added that the fourth quarter is generally Google's brightest because it makes much of its money on retail ads that run during the holiday shopping season.

"The core business is a great business and the fourth-quarter is always a time for Google to shine," said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial.