Google’s share price hit a new high on Friday, reflecting the company’s push into new ways for advertisers to reach its massive online audience.

Yahoo News reports, “Google’s shares peaked at $560.79 before falling back to finish at $560.10, up $7.27, or 1.3 percent. The rally eclipsed Google’s previous record high of $558.58 attained in mid-July, just days before the Mountain View-based company disillusioned investors with a second-quarter profit below analyst estimates”.

Google has a market value of almost $175 billion, more than Hewlett-Packard and IBM. The stock has increased six-fold from its IPO price of $85 in August 2004.

The Federal Reserve Bank’s decision to lower short-term interest rates by 0.5 percentage points means Google stands to benefit because it runs the largest advertising network on the Internet.

Despite challenges, Google has been able to widen its lead in search — the activity that triggers the text-based ad links that have become a huge moneymaker for the Mountain View company.

Google now handles 54 percent of all U.S. search requests. Yahoo lags well behind at 20 percent followed by Microsoft at 13 percent.

Google earned $1.9 billion on $7.5 billion in revenue during the first half of this year. That will increase during the second half because of the Christmas/Holidays shopping season.

According to Yahoo News, “Several industry analysts already are forecasting Google shares will soon surpass $600. The stock eclipsed $500 for the first time 10 months ago”.