Despite the fact that its chief revenue source - online advertising spending - has seen a plunge in the face of the economic downturn, Google has still managed to report an increase in its 2009 first quarter revenue and profit.

For the quarter that ended March 31, 2009, Google reported a 6 percent rise in year-on-year revenue - to $5.51 billion from the year-before figures of $5.2 billion. Excluding commissions and fees paid to advertising and distribution partners, the $4.07 billion revenue figures was marginally lower than consensus estimates of $4.08 billion from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

The Mountain View, CAlifornia-based search engine reported a net income of $1.42 billion, or $4.49 per share; as against the 2008 first quarter net income figures of $1.31 billion, or $4.12 per share.

While discussing the first quarter results of the company at a conference call, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the rise in revenue figures can be largely attributed to growth in search queries. Noting the widespread effect of the global economic crisis, Schmidt expressed satisfaction with the company's financial performance in the first quarter.

Saying that "No company is recession-proof," Schmidt added that the Google's quarterly results indicate the "resilience" of its business model. Schmidt said: "Despite the tough economic climate, we think Google had a good quarter!"