Dive Brief:

• Google reported Q2 earnings after the close Thursday, posting EPS of $6.99 and besting analyst estimates of $6.70.The search giant also posted adjusted sales (ex-TAC) of $14.35 billion, topping estimates of $14.26 billion.
• The California-based company revealed an 18% rise in paid clicks over last year, though cost-per-click figures slipped 11% year-over-year.
• Meanwhile, Google's advertising revenue was up 11% from the year prior.

Dive Insight:

Google shares spiked more than 7% in extended trade Thursday and was up more than 13% in early trade Friday after the company reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings, which marked the companies first earnings beat in six quarters.

Investors looking for figures on YouTube and mobile performances cheered Google's continued improvement in search and YouTube ad revenues. MarketWatch points out that while traffic acquisition costs as a percentage of advertising revenues fell to 21% from 23% in the same period last year, total advertising revenues were up 11% year-over-year.

Victor Anthony, senior Internet and media analyst at Axiom Capital Management, told CNBC the combination of revenue growth and expense decreases are "a recipe for earnings beats over the next several quarters." Anthony explained key a driver behind the acceleration besides Google's mobile and YouTube businesses is an increase in cost-per-clicks in its search engine segment.

Still, Anthony argues Facebook is a better buy right now thanks to its advertising business within Instagram and its expected push to monetize WhatsApp. Meanwhile, the Mountain View, Calif.-based tech titan has made a slew of changes and updates in the past quarter, specifically in mobile and ad products.

Google's recently-appointed CFO Ruth Porat, who joins the search engine from Morgan Stanley, touted its ad initiatives in a statement with the release, "Our strong Q2 results reflect continued growth across the breadth of our products, most notably core search, where mobile stood out, as well as YouTube and programmatic advertising."

In a call with investors following the release, the CFO discussed mobile adds, saying, “We continue to close the gap between mobile and desktop monetization.” She added that "watch time" for YouTube on mobile more than doubled from last year, but did not provide exact metrics. Google did, however, provide paid clicks metrics, revealing a 30% rise on Google’s sites, a 9% slip on other network sites. Meanwhile, programmatic performance "more than offset lower results in AdSense for search."

The rosy earnings come the same week The Wall Street Journal reported Google is streamlining expenses. And Porat's expense discipline strategy can be attributed for helping boost profits.

"We are focused every day on developing big new opportunities across a wide range of businesses. We will do so with great care regarding resource allocation," Porat stressed.