San Francisco  - Web search leader Google saw profits rise 27 per cent in the third quarter to 1.64 billion dollars, the company said Thursday.

Revenue rose 7.3 per cent to 5.94 billion dollars.

Google's results gave further evidence that the worst of the recession may be over, coming just days after another tech bellwether Intel also reported positive earnings and revenue growth.

In a statement, Google's chief executive, Eric E Schmidt, said the company had a strong quarter.

"While there is a lot of uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery, we believe the worst of the recession is behind us and now feel confident about investing heavily in our future," he said. (dpa)