Google shares climb after advertisers’ payment for each user’s click improves

Google shares have jumped more than four percent in extended trading after its latest results showed an improvement in the amount advertisers pay for each user’s click.

The average price per click jumped two percent in the final three months of last year compared with the third quarter.

According to the Telegraph, although that rate is still down six percent from the fourth quarter of 2011, it is an improvement on the 15 percent annual drop Google saw in the third quarter.

The amount Google can command from advertisers per click is being eroded, as consumers increasingly access the web via mobile devices, rather than desktop computers, the report said.

Given they are smaller and can sometimes be more disruptive for the user, the amount companies can charge for advertising on mobile devices is up to 50 percent lower than rates on PC adverts.

According to the report, Google shares rose 4.4 percent to 736.50 dollars in extended trading on Wall Street.

Google, which is also behind the Android operating software used smartphone makers such as Samsung, said that the overall volume of paid clicks climbed 24 percent in the fourth quarter compared with 33 percent in the third quarter.

Larry Page, Google’s chief executive and co-founder, said that the mobile advertising business will continue to grow.

Google’s overall profits for the quarter were 2.89 billion dollars, up 6.7 percent from the same quarter in 2011, the report added.