Can Google do it again? -- Google's earnings preview

Although Google Inc. (NADAQ: GOOG) remains the talk of the tech world, its stock hasn't inspired much confidence this year from investors, eking out only about a 1 percent gain. Maybe that will change following this week's earnings report.

Google remains seemingly unstoppable, dominating the Internet advertising landscape through its now-famous text ads which many companies are finding far more cost effective than traditional media.

Competitors Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) after several years, are still scrambling to catch up to Google. All of their investments, though, have yet to pay off. Market research data shows that Google increased its lead over its rivals yet again in March.

Google's acquisition of YouTube last year for $1.8 billion in stock and last week's acquisition of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick for $3.1 billion in cash is making the juggernaut even stronger. Add this with Google's deal with radio leader Clear Channel Communications Inc. (NYSE: CCU) announced Sunday and the company is getting its fingers into advertising in any medium.

While investors wait for Google to entrench itself into more advertising areas, industry analysts are expecting Google to report a 44% jump in its first-quarter profit to $3.30 a share this Thursday, with a 63% rise in revenue to $2.49 billion.

Will it match these expectations or beat them?

Check back Thursday at 4:30 EST to find out, as I'll be liveblogging Google's results as they are released in real-time.