Shares in the search engine Google may surpass $600 for the first time, according to reports.Only three years after the company began trading at $85, its shares have reached $596.81 and are predicted to continue rising.
This year alone, the internet giant's share price has risen by over a quarter and it now has the sixth highest stock-price in the US, despite having fallen below the $450 mark earlier this year.
The rise in share price can be attributed to investors betting that the search engine will capture more sales from firms shifting advertising to the internet, Bloomberg reports.
According to the news agency, Piper Jaffray & Co, web analyst Gene Munster commented: "Google is still dominating" and estimates that its stock will reach $660 within a year as the company spreads its lead in search to other areas of internet advertising in 2008.
Google's success has seen co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who started the company in 1998, amass billions of dollars. The pair were recently ranked fifth in Forbes magazine's list of the 400 wealthiest Americans in 2007.
The 34-year-olds have increased their wealth by $4.4 billion and $4.5 million respectively over the past year and are now estimated to be worth $18.5 billion each.
Google is currently attempting to further its business credentials by acquiring global internet advertising solutions company DoubleClick.
