Official figures shared by Baidu have confirmed that for the past year's fourth-quarter, the Chinese search engine giant's earnings managed to rise by a whopping 48%, topping expectations pegged by Wall Street analysts. On the successful profits, the company went ahead to offer an upbeat and optimistic outlook for the current year's first-quarter, hinted that it has managed to turn a corner in the transition to a new system of advertising.

Baidu, which already dominates the Chinese market, now stands a chance of further increasing its share with Google Inc. looking to pack-up its operations from the country.

For the last three months of the previous year, Baidu posted earnings of CNY427.9 Million ($62.7 Million), or CNY12.27 ($1.80) per ADS, a substantial when compared with the earnings of CNY288.7 Million, or CNY8.31 per ADS, posted for 2008's fourth-quarter.

Revenue increased by a whopping 40% to CNY1.26 Billion ($184.7 Million).

For the year's first-quarter, Baidu shared a revenue expectation of $176 Million to $181 Million, surprising analysts.