Google's firepower remains awesome. Beneath the headline grabbing - and short-seller crushing - 46 per cent jump in first quarter net revenues, investment is rising even faster. Research and development was up 65 per cent year-on-year to $673m. Datacentre-related costs, although not split out separately, appear to have roughly doubled over the same period. Operating cashflow in the first quarter was $1.8bn.

Rival Yahoo looks outgunned. Operating cashflow, admittedly from the fourth quarter, was $657m. Product development, or R&D, was $289m in the same period. Even when Yahoo reports next week, both figures will remain far behind. Meanwhile, Google is rolling in more than $12bn of cash and marketable securities, compared with Yahoo's $2bn.