Google’s earnings for the fourth quarter of 2009 surged as the search giant put the worst of the global financial crisis behind it.

Google reported revenues of $6.67 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, up 17% vs the fourth quarter of 2008. Earnings for the quarter came in at $1.97 billion, up from $348 million for the same quarter of 2008. Earnings per share were $6.13, up from $1.21 a year earlier, although the 2008 figure included stock-based compensation and year-ago impairments, Adjusted, earnings rose to $6.79 from $5.10 per share.

Notable in the results were International Revenues, which totaled $3.52 billion, or 53% of total revenues in the Q4 09, compared to 50% in Q4 08. Google notes though that international revenue would have been slightly down had it not been for international currency movements.

Paid Clicks, including Google sites and AdSense partners were up 13% over Q4 08 and 9% over Q3 09. Google Network Revenues through AdSense came in at $2.04 billion, for 31% of total revenues, up 21% ion Q4 08.

“Google had a strong fourth quarter, with 17% year over year revenue growth,” CEO Eric Schmidt said in a statement. “Given that the global economy is still in the early days of recovery, this was an extraordinary end to the year.”

“As we enter 2010, we remain hugely optimistic about the internet and are continuing to invest heavily in technological innovation for the benefit not only of our users and customers, but also the wider web.”

The market though was expecting better returns, and GOOG stock took a hammering in after hours trading, dropping $24.98 a share, or 4.28%.

It was a gloomy day on Wall Street for investors in proprietary GPS services today, not just because of the soaking rain in New York.

News hit this morning that Google is offering a free, turn-by-turn navigation service on Motorola Droid phones starting next week. Consequently, shares of Garmin tumbled 17% while TomTom’s shares fell 21%. In a post about the announcement and subsequent stock dive, the Business Insider linked to this post by John Gruber where he predicts more woe for companies like TomTom and Garmin:

The biggest objection is that the dedicated devices store all the map data locally. That’s great, and I’m sure it’s essential for some people. But the writing is on the wall. Google is entering the field. Their service is going to be free. It is going to improve constantly. Surely, eventually, map data will be stored (or at least cached) locally on devices. Soon enough, Google’s service will be both free and superior. Garmin and TomTom are toast.

Indeed, Google does have a habit of owning stuff like this, and Google’s pitch in the video below (which is oddly reminiscent of a workplace sexual harassment PSA) looks pretty awesome. Google’s search by voice feature looks pretty handy, and it appears that Apple and Google are collaborating on bringing it to the iPhone as well. Google also reports that the data used will be stored in the cloud, using Google Maps and real-time information to make GPS navigation even more accurate.

Google has announced 100 layoffs and range of engineering office closures across three countries.

The 100 positions to be cut come from recruiting, and are on top of a confirmation from Google that “almost all contracts with external contractors and vendors providing recruiting services” have been cut. The layoffs are the first confirmed by Google for Google employees, after rumors of up to 10,000 contractors had been cut (others suggest the number is 4,500).

Google has also announced a cut to its external engineering offices with engineering teams in Austin, Texas; Trondheim, Norway; and Lulea, Sweden to go. The total number of staff affected is 70, and all have been offered the opportunity to relocate, although Google notes that not all may take the offer, with a net result of more job losses.

Google said the consolidation allows them to “build larger and more effective teams, reduce communication overhead, and give engineers increased options for future projects.”