Google revenues hit by tablets

The world's biggest search engine is expected to report record profits for the last three months of the year.

For years Google has notched up ever-rising revenues and earnings. But the move away from desktop computers to tablets and smartphones is eating into revenue from sponsored searches.

And, increasingly, Google is facing competition from rivals such as Bing and Facebook.

Brian Milligan reports.

Correction made on 23 January 2013: In this piece Brian Milligan says that retailers pay Google if a Product Search translates into a sale. In fact, retailers pay to appear in the search irrespective of whether there is a sale.