Looks like Google+ is the gift that keeps on giving.  Google announced Thursday that its third quarter revenues were up 33% over the same quarter last year, just toeing the $10 billion line, and CEO Larry Page credits the revenue increase to Google+. 

“The word that comes to mind is gangbusters,” said Page, who announced that Google+ has recently crossed the 40 million user mark. 

In Google’s third quarter, the company took home $9.72 billion in revenue.  By comparison, Google generated $9.03 billion last quarter, and $7.29 billion in the third quarter of 2010. 

GAAP net income increased to $2.73 billion from $2.17 billion in the same quarter last year.

“Since becoming CEO of Google, my focus has been on increasing Google’s velocity and execution,” said Larry Page, noting that Google+ launched 100 features in 90 days and has seen 3.4 billion photos  uploaded on the network to date. 

Chrome now has over 200 million users, which is up from the 160 million users the browser had last quarter.  Reports indicate that Chrome now accounts for 20% of the global browser market and continues to climb.

Page also announced that over 190 million Android devices have been activated globally.  At the last earnings call, Page revealed that some 550,000 Android phones are being activated each day.

But it hasn’t all been launches and expansions.  Part of “increasing Google’s velocity and execution” has involved shutting down a number of products and services.  Page revealed that Google shuttered 20 products over the last quarter, including Google Labs, Slide, Google Pack, Google Notebook, and more.  Page explained that the shutdowns were necessary to streamline Google’s operations.

During the Q&A session, a number of analysts questioned Page and the rest of the Google management team on how the company is protecting the Android ecosystem from competitors—referring, of course, to the joint effort on the part of Microsoft, Apple, and RIM (among others) to buy up Nortel’s and Novell’s patent portfolios with the express purpose of keeping them away from Google.  If Google had been able to purchase the patents, it would’ve prevented competitors from being able to sue them for patent infringements.

Page didn’t get into details, other than to say that Google believes that competitors’ attempts to hurt the Android ecosystem have not been effective, nor will they be now that Google has Motorola’s patent portfolio (following Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola in August). 

Image source: topnews.net.nz