Google released their Q1 2012 earnings report, which showed that the company had another great quarter.

The search giant reported revenue of $10.65 billion for the quarter ending March 31, 2012, an increase of 24% compared to the  $8.58 billion earned during the first quarter of 2011.

“Google had another great quarter with revenues up 24% year on year,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google.  “We also saw tremendous momentum from the big bets we’ve made in products like Android, Chrome and YouTube. We are still at the very early stages of what technology can do to improve people’s lives and we have enormous opportunities ahead.  It is a very exciting time to be at Google.”

But it wasn’t the earnings report that caught everyone’s attention.  Google also announced in their annual Founders’ Letter that they’re creating a new class of non-voting stock, which will create a 2-1 stock split.

“These shares will be distributed via a stock dividend to all existing stockholders: the owner of each existing share will receive one new share of the non-voting stock, giving investors twice the number of shares they had before,” Page said in the Founders’ Letter. “It’s effectively a two-for-one stock split — something many of our investors have long asked us for. These non-voting shares will be available for corporate uses, like equity-based employee compensation, that might otherwise dilute our governance structure.”

Page and co-founder Sergey Brin know that this approach will not be accepted by everyone, but they believe it is needed in order to keep the company competitive, and will be beneficial not only for the company but for shareholders and patrons as well.

“[A]fter careful consideration with our board of directors, we have decided that maintaining this founder-led approach is in the best interests of Google, our shareholders and our users,” said Page.  “Having the flexibility to use stock without diluting our structure will help ensure we are set up for success for decades to come.”

Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond explained how the stock split and voting would work.

“Each holder of a share of Class A or Class B common stock will receive one share of the new non-voting Class C capital stock,” Drummond said.  “So after the dividend, a stockholder who currently owns one Class A share with a single vote will continue to own that share plus one Class C share without a vote.”

Drummond goes on stating that the Class A shares will continue to trade under the “GOOG” ticker symbol but the Class C shares will trade under a different ticker symbol.  Stockholders will be able to trade these Class C shares just like Class A shares.

“Except for voting rights, the Class C shares will have the same rights as the existing Class A and Class B shares. As is typically the case with stock splits, the Class C stock dividend will be tax-free,” Drummond stated.

In other Google news, the search giant confirmed that they are applying for several top level domains though the spokeswoman did not give any details as to what they might be.  Bets are on .Google and .Youtube but other reports are stating that they could also apply for .gplus or .plus for Google Plus and .gplay or .play for Google Play.

“We plan to apply for Google’s trademarked TLDs, and we’re currently exploring opportunities to apply for new ones as well,” a Google spokeswoman said.  “We want to help make this a smooth experience for web users—one that promotes innovation and competition on the Internet.”