The search giant shrugged off apprehensions about its health in a struggling US economy, posting profits of $1.35bn (£780m) up from $1.07bn last year.
Having dropped nearly 20% in the last month, Google's share price gained 4% to $353.02. After-hours trading pushed shares up an additional 10% after the stock had hit a three-year low of $309.44 (£178.93) earlier in the day.
The numbers seem to prove the predictions made by Google that its pay-per-click advertising model would fare well despite deepening economic gloom, however CEO Eric Schmidt warned "It's clear we're in uncharted territory."
Schmidt said: "While we are realistic about the poor state of the global economy, we will continue to manage Google for the long term."
Google made its long-term intentions clear by reining in spending and hiring only 519 new employees in the third quarter, compared to more than 2,000 last year, pushing its total workforce to 20,000.
Schmidt said that Google would continue to make new hires in Q4, although cautiously.
Total revenue in Q3 was $5.54bn (£3.20bn), up nearly 31% from last year (£2.45bn).
The numbers were fuelled by international advertising sales, which rose 41% this quarter.
Yesterday the company made its controversial announcement that it would lift its ban on paid search advertising for gambling websites in the UK, which is expected to boost profits further.
Google is also awaiting results from the anti-trust review by the US Justice Department regarding its advertising partnership with Yahoo! The deal would allow Google ads to appear on the Yahoo! search engine.
Yahoo! shares also surged yesterday, rising 11% to $13 (£7.50) per share, after Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said a deal for Yahoo!'s search advertising division may still be possible.
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