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_: Google reported that its profit climbed and its annual revenue hit an unprecedented high last year as it evolved to stay in tune with people using smartphones and tablets. "We ended 2012 with a strong quarter," said Google co-founder and chief executive Larry Page. "We hit $50 billion in revenues for the first time last year; not a bad achievement in just a decade and a half." The fourth quarter profit was up 6.7 per cent from a year earlier at $2.89 billion, and for the full year Google's earnings grew 10 per cent to $10.74 billion. Revenue in the quarter that ended December 31 was up 36 per cent from the same period a year earlier at $14.4 billion. For the year, revenues grew to $50.2 billion.