Two-thirds of Americans use Google to look for information on everything from aardvark aromatics to zygotic cleavage. When the company reports results on Thursday, investors searching for signs of economic recovery should take note. Any pick-up in activity by shoppers researching purchases and advertisers bidding for their attention should reflect immediately in Google’s automated systems.

The underlying growth rate in online advertising is still positive – Google never shrank on a year-on-year basis during the downturn. Analysts expect net revenue growth to be similar to the 4.5 per cent rate reported in the previous quarter.