Baidu Inc, the country's biggest search engine provider, reported a nearly 50 percent increase in its fourth-quarter profit, driven by strong revenue from a new technique that enhances search results and checks the effectiveness of advertisements appearing on its pages.

Net income in the three months ended December 31 reached US$62.7 million, a 48.2 percent jump from the same period in 2008, the company said in a statement yesterday.

Its total revenue surged 39.8 percent from a year ago to US$184.7 million, higher than the upper end of its previous guidance of US$180 million.

"With a solid base of users and customers, our foundation is stronger than ever and we will continue to drive innovation to capture market opportunities," said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu.

Its new "Phoenix Nest" system helps to improve search results and monitors the effectiveness of sponsored ads on the Web pages users click on.

The number of active online marketing customers rose 13.2 percent from the same period in 2008 to around 223,000 by the end of last year.

Baidu said profit for the whole of 2009 surged 41.7 percent from that of 2008 to US$217.6 million, or US$6.62 per share.

"Internet search will recover quicker from the financial crisis compared with other sectors and total market revenue will exceed 10 billion yuan in 2010," according to Beijing-based Analysys International.

Baidu forecasts revenue in the first quarter this year at between US$176 million and US$181 million.