Google said its net income grew to $1.07 billion, or $3.38 a share, up from $733 million, or $2.36 a share, a year earlier. Net revenue rose to $4.23 billion. Excluding commissions paid to advertising partners, a widely followed measure of the company’s performance, revenue was $3.01 billion, about $70 million higher than analysts expected. Profit, excluding items like stock-based compensation, was $1.24 billion, or $3.91 a share, higher than the $3.78 a share forecast by analysts.  Surprisingly, Google, which this year had promised to slow its rate of hiring, in part to allay investor worries about rising expenses, added 2,130 employees this quarter, more than in previous quarters, to end the period with 15,916 employees.  Google executives said that about 1,000 of the new hires were recent college graduates, many of whom had accepted offers earlier in the year and began working in the quarter. About 300 more workers were added when Google completed the acquisition of the e-mail manager Postini.  “The numbers that you are seeing are essentially an overhang,” Mr. Schmidt said. “Going forward you should be comfortable that we are paying attention to the head count.”  That promise appeared to satisfy some analysts.  “Yes, they hired more people,” said Anthony Noto, an analyst with Goldman Sachs. But Mr. Noto said he was persuaded that any concerns about runaway growth had been put to rest.  Mr. Noto said Google executives seemed to calm worries about another possible expense: the $4.6 billion or more that Google said it might bid for a swath of wireless spectrum that the government is set to auction next year. Google had been lobbying regulators to set rules requiring any network that uses the spectrum to be open to any phone and any software application. The Federal Communications Commission adopted those rules, but they are being challenged in court by Verizon Wireless.  During the call, Larry Page, a Google founder, said the company was happy with the “openness provisions” that were put in place by the F.C.C.  “I don’t think we feel like there is any desperate need for us to have to bid to win,” he said. “The money is not burning a hole in our pocket.”  In an interview after the conference call, Mr. Schmidt said Google had not ruled out a bid, either alone or with a partner.  “In August, I said that we would probably bid,” he said. That has not changed, Mr. Schmidt said. Then he added: “‘Probably’ is not the same as ‘will.’”  Google’s financial report follows a period in which the company’s shares have risen sharply, to a record of $641.41 a week ago, as many investors expect the company’s core advertising business to remain strong.  Investors also believe that one or more of Google’s many new initiatives will soon begin to contribute more significantly to the company’s growth. And they expect that Google’s proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, if it is approved by regulators, will help it gain share in the market for online display advertising.  In recent weeks, Google stepped up its plans to sell ads on cellphones, and the company is expected to announce an operating system for mobile phones soon. Google also introduced two efforts intended to cash in on YouTube’s popularity. In September, it showed a type of online video ad that is overlaid on YouTube clips. This month it said it would use its advertising network to distribute YouTube clips that are surrounded with ads.  Google executives said several of its newer projects were doing well, including a deal to sell advertising on MySpace and a trial for customized television ads.  Google’s shares rose $6.14 yesterday to close at $639.62 in regular trading. They rose modestly in after-hours trading after the release of the earnings report.  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: Google’s Strong Quarter Widens Gap With Rivals. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
The search giant’s surging third quarter profits showed that it was growing at twice the speed of the online advertising market, which itself is booming.