Net income was $33.45 million, or 82 cents a share, little changed from $33.53 million, or 79 cents, a year earlier, Sohu said in a statement. The Beijing-based company was expected to post profit of $32.2 million, based on the average of 11 analysts? estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Sohu last year spun off online games unit Changyou.com Ltd. to focus on selling advertising to companies. Chairman Charles Zhang is boosting spending to develop Sohu?s search engine, Sogou, after Google Inc. moved its Chinese service offshore amid a standoff with local regulators on Web censorship.

Sales increased 15 percent to $146.1 million, Sohu said. Revenue from Internet advertising rose 26 percent to $57.1 million, while online game sales gained 17 percent to $77.7 million.

Third-quarter revenue will range from $153 million to $158 million, Sohu said.

Sogou accounted for 1.1 percent of China?s paid-search market last year, making it the country?s third-biggest behind Baidu Inc. and Google, according to research company iResearch.

Source : Konaxis