Why Google's Job Interviews Never Last More Than 30 Minutes

Richard Feloni at Business Insider explains:

As a hiring manager, if you research a job candidate and ask the right questions, there's no reason the interview should last longer than 30 minutes, Google chairman Eric Schmidt and former VP of product Jonathan Rosenberg write in their book How Google Works.

"The shorter interview time forces a conversation that's more protein and less fat," they write. "There's no time for small talk or meaningless questions. It forces people, including (especially!) you, into a substantive discussion."...

It wasn't always that way.

"One time, in our early days at Google, we interviewed a particular candidate over 30 times, and we still couldn't decide if we wanted to hire him," the authors write.

Schmidt and his team decided that they were going to track interviews to maximize efficiency.

They found that after one interview, interviewers were ready to make a decision about 75% of the time. Decision-making ability gradually rose to 85% after four interviews and then plateaued. They decided to round up to limiting interviews to five, since computer scientists appreciate that five is a prime number, Schmidt and Rosenberg joke.

Here’s Why You Only Have a 0.2% Chance of Getting Hired at Google (If You Apply)

By MaxNisen

Google gets around 3 million applications a year now, according to HR head Laszlo Bock, and hires 7000. That means only one in 428 applicants end up with a job, making it far more selective than institutions like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. Those are pretty thin odds, but when Bock joined in 2006 from General Electric, Google’s hiring process was even more daunting—especially since the company’s future was by no means a sure thing.

“My last week at GE the CEO of my division took me aside, and said ‘Laszlo, this Google thing is cute, but I don’t really think it’s going anywhere. When you’re ready for a real company we’ll hold a job for you, and you can come back any time,'” Bock said in a speech at LinkedIn’s Talent Connect conference yesterday

It took some convincing to get people on board back then, Bock says. Many were taking pay cuts to join, and they had to run the guantlet to do so: “Hiring took 6 to 9 months and people sat for 15 to 25 interviews. It was an awful experience.” The company was also notorious for asking impossible brain teasers, which Bock says he hates and is still working to eradicate from Google interviews.
Things are a bit more orderly now that Google is perhaps the most sought-after employer in the world, with a workforce of more than 50,000.

Read the rest here.

Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?

That's the title of a new book by William Poundstone.

Economist in its review of the book says:

To judge by “Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?”—which combines anecdotes from current and former employees of Silicon Valley firms, with a potted history of the pop psychology and practice of interviewing, and lots of brainteasers of a sort favoured by interviewers at Google— plenty of firms treat graduate recruitment the way Alfred Hitchcock treated blondes. Inexperienced Tippi Hedrens can be made to squirm. They get asked impossible questions by stony-faced interviewers who offer them no feedback or encouragement, leaving the baffled victims feeling stupid and a little sweaty. This approach is used only on people starting out on their careers, when the power of interviewer over interviewee is at its greatest. By the time candidates have more professional experience they can expect to be treated more like Grace Kelly.

Power firms such as Google and Goldman Sachs have their pick of employees just coming out of graduate school, so they make those applying go through hoops to get jobs. Anybody willing to go through all the hoops then tend to be very loyal.

I'm not familiar enough with the Google culture to know what it is like, but the Goldman Sachs gals I know put Goldman ahead of everything, including bathroom breaks.

That said, I once asked a Google employee, who had worked at other Silicon Valley firms what he found most different about Google from the other firms he worked at. He stopped for a minute to think and then said that everyone at Google was smart. He said that at other firms he worked at there were very smart people, but you could occasionally run into a clueless person.

He said that never happened at Google. If you are dealing with someone at Google, he said, you can be pretty sure they are very smart.

Google to Release Chrome OS Before Holiday Season

Google  plans on releasing its browser-based operating system, Chrome OS, sometime this fall, according to various reports.
Sundar Pichai, a vice president of product management at Google, speaking at the Computex conference over the weekend, said that his company’s rival to Windows would arrive sometime later this year, but did not provide a specific date.

Chrome OS was announced nearly a year ago. It is a lightweight operating system built around Google’s Chrome browser. Like other Linux-based platforms, it will be available for free, allowing hardware vendors to avoid licensing costs.

Murdoch Going Google-Less in the UK

Rupert Murdoch's UK Times and Sunday Times are putting up search walls in addition to pay walls.


The papers, which plan to start charging users for access to their newly redesigned Web sites in late June, will prevent Google and other search engines from linking to their stories.

Except for their homepages, no stories will show up on Google.

Google's Top Secret AdSense Pay Out Formula is Out

Google itself has blown the cover via a blog post by Vice President, Product Management, Neal Mohan. He writes:

Today, in the spirit of greater transparency with AdSense publishers, we’re sharing the revenue shares for our two main AdSense products — AdSense for content and AdSense for search.

As you may already know, AdSense is comprised of several products. The most popular are AdSense for content, which allows publishers to generate revenue from ads placed alongside web content, and AdSense for search, which allows publishers to place a custom Google search engine on their site and generate revenue from ads shown next to search results. Since AdSense for content and AdSense for search offer publishers different services, the revenue shared with publishers differs for each of these products.

AdSense for content publishers, who make up the vast majority of our AdSense publishers, earn a 68% revenue share worldwide. This means we pay 68% of the revenue that we collect from advertisers for AdSense for content ads that appear on your sites.The remaining portion that we keep reflects Google's costs for our continued investment in AdSense — including the development of new technologies, products and features that help maximize the earnings you generate from these ads. It also reflects the costs we incur in building products and features that enable our AdWords advertisers to serve ads on our AdSense partner sites. Since launching AdSense for content in 2003, this revenue share has never changed.

We pay our AdSense for search partners a 51% revenue share, worldwide, for the search ads that appear through their implementations. As with AdSense for content, the proportion of revenue that we keep reflects our costs, including the significant expense, research and development involved in building and enhancing our core search and AdWords technologies. The AdSense for search revenue share has remained the same since 2005, when we increased it.

Funny, how Mohan doesn't use the word "profit" at all in the announcement. How about something like, "We make a damn good product that benefits publishers and advertisers, of the portion of revenues that we keep, in addition to covering costs it contains our profit for this damn good product."

Or am I mistaken and Sergy and Larry aren't billionaires because of Adsense?

Over the last 12 months Google's profit was approximately $7 billion.

What's really behind the announcement? Probably competition is forcing Google's  hand. There is this curious paragraph in Mohan's announcement which suggests this might be the case:

We hope this additional transparency helps you gain more insight into your business partnership with Google. We believe our revenue share is very competitive, and the vast number of advertisers who compete to appear on AdSense sites helps to ensure that you’re earning the most from every ad impression. Additionally, when considering different monetization options, we encourage you to focus on the total revenue generated from your site, rather than just revenue share, which can be misleading. For example, you would receive $68 with AdSense for content for $100 worth of advertising that appeared on your site. If another ad network offers an 80% revenue share, but is only able to collect $50 from ads served on your site, you would earn $40. In this case, a higher revenue share wouldn’t make up for the lower revenue yield of the other ad network.

But puhleeze, will someone please send Sergy, Larry and Mohan copies of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrug written by that other super talented Russian, Ayn Rand, who would never have been afraid to use the word "profit."

Google Cell Phone Activations

Google disclosed today that 100,000 Android-based phones are being activated each day, up from 60,000 a day in February.

Free Market Competition: Google Docs Forces Microsoft to Offer Free Version of Office 2010

Seattle Times reports

 Microsoft launches its latest version, Office 2010, on Wednesday in New York — and the stakes couldn't be higher. The lucrative franchise is threatened by a changing market spouting a four-letter word: free. The biggest threat comes from Google, specifically Google Docs, Web applications accessible from any computer. Because of Google, Microsoft has been forced to make a free ad-supported version called Office Web Apps.

Viva la competition!

(htMarkPerry)

Google Tool Tracks Government Tracking

Google has launched a new tool, here, that will track and report on how many requests for personal data it receives from governments, on a government by government basis. It will also report on request by governments to remove content.

Currently, the new tool breaks down by country and service the number of government demands in the second half of 2009 in the 100 or so countries where it operates. Google said it will update the information every six months.

Soros Wants to Takeover Baltimore (With a little help from Google)

George Soros is making a move on Baltimore.

Soros has pumped $70 million into Baltimore through his Open Society Institute front group organization. Now he's wants Google to wire the city for him.

From a statement OSI released yesterday:

"Google should consider Baltimore for this trial for the same reasons that I selected Baltimore for my philanthropic investment, and as the site of the only field office of the Open Society Institute in the United States," said George Soros. "Baltimore has strong community institutions but still many people who suffer from being disconnected from important resources. The city and its residents would benefit dramatically from enhanced communications infrastructure. An investment in Baltimore is sure to yield positive returns both for Google and for the city."

Google To Shutdown in China

Google is expected to announce on Monday that it will withdraw from China on April 10, according to a report in a Beijing-based newspaper that references an unidentified China-based Google employee, says Cnet.


"I have received information saying that Google will leave China on April 10, but this information has not at present been confirmed by Google," the China Business News quoted the agent as saying. The report also said Google would reveal its plans for its China-based staff that day.

Goggle's Censorship of Its Chinese Search Engine Starts to Come Down

Rolfe Winkler writes:

Do a search on google.cn for “tianamen.” Those aren’t the image results you’d see if Google still cared about mollifying Chinese authorities.

Google to Rent Movies Through YouTube...

...starting Friday.

The first movies that will be rentable will be some that will be shown at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.

The movies will cost $3.99 for a 48-hour viewing period. Movie studios will be able to set their own prices, with rental viewing windows ranging from one to 90 days. YouTube will get an unspecified commission from each rental.

Chinese Spies Inside Google?

Google is investigating whether one or more employees may have helped facilitate a cyber-attack that the U.S search giant said it was a victim of in mid-December, two sources told Reuters on Monday.

The sources told Reuters that the attack, which targeted people who have access to specific parts of Google networks, may have been facilitated by people working in Google China's office.

"We're not commenting on rumor and speculation. This is an ongoing investigation, and we simply cannot comment on the details," a Google spokeswoman said.

Local Chinese media, citing unnamed sources, reported that some Google China employees were denied access to internal networks after Jan. 13, while some staff were put on leave and others transferred to different offices in Google's Asia Pacific operations.

Google Supports Intellectual Property Rights

Google gets it. Sometmes it makes sense to go open source and give away your product, and sometimes it doesn't.

In October 2008, Google announced that they would provide the source code for their new phone operatng system, Android:

...today, we're making what might just be the most exciting announcement of all: we and our Open Handset Alliance partners have now released the source code for Android. There's a huge amount of code and content there, so head over to http://source.android.com/ for all the details.

However, it is allowing Android developers the right to charge for their apps. and maintain intellectual property rights with regard to the products it offer. Gphoneholic reports and then explains:

What does this mean for you? Presumably we’ll be getting some high quality apps from developers that aren’t keen on giving anything away. I expect we’ll see many of the apps on 3rd-party stores (like SlideME, AndAppStore, Android Guys, Handango, etc.) will make appearances on the Android Market now. To compete with Google, those other stores are going to have to increase the incentive for developers perhaps through lower fees (however, Google’s rates are not outragous) or by utilizing other forms of payment from users, since the Android Market will only use Google Checkout for processing transactions.

Get ready for more apps, and to pay for them.

And Google locks it all down in their developer agreement:

...The Market will allow you to protect your Products so that users may not share Products with other users or devices...Each party shall own all right, title and interest, including without limitation all intellectual property rights, relating to its Brand Features. Except to the limited extent expressly provided in this Agreement, neither party grants, nor shall the other party acquire, any right, title or interest (including, without limitation, any implied license) in or to any Brand Features of the other party.

Google Earnings Out; Stock Soars

Google said third-quarter profit climbed 26 percent as more customers used Web search ads.

Net income rose to $1.35 billion, or $4.24 a share, from $1.07 billion, or $3.38, a year earlier, accordng to Google.

Excluding revenue passed on to partner sites, sales expanded to $4.04 billion, compared with the $4.05 billion average estimate. Total revenue climbed 31 percent to $5.54 billion.

Google stock rose $36.98, or 10 percent, to $390 in extended trading after closing at $353.02 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Mossberg: Google's G1 In The Same Class As Apple's iPhone

Walt Mossberg writes:

I have been testing the G1 extensively, in multiple cities and in multiple scenarios. In general, I like it and consider it a worthy competitor to the iPhone. Both devices run on fast 3G phone networks and include Wi-Fi. Both have smart-touch interfaces and robust Web browsers. Both have the ability to easily download third-party apps, or programs.

But the two devices have different strengths and weaknesses, and are likely to attract different types of users.

By far, the G1's biggest differentiator is that it has a physical keyboard, which is revealed by sliding open the screen. The keyboard proved only fair in my tests, with keys that are too flat and that can be hard to see in bright light, and with a bulge in the body on the right side that you have to reach over to type. But, for the many people who can't stomach typing on glass, the G1 keyboard will be a welcome sight.

His full rview is here.

Early Google Chrome Review

I just downloaded Google's new browser, Chrome, this morning.

First impression: Two thumbs up.

The download was very quick and after the download there was no need for the computer to be shut down and re-started.

It seems to run smoothly and a few obvious features really work for me. When I am posting a comment to other blog sites, an automatic spell check kicks in. I just checked my Yahoo and Gmail accounts and the spell check kicks in with them also.

When you open up a new tab, a screen shot appears of your six most visited sites. I can see how this will make things very easy to move to top pages rapidly.

Immediately upon highlighting a word you get the option of conducting a Google search of the word.

There's also the sample uncluttered look that Google is known for. You will notice the difference between this look and Internet Explorer/Firefox immediately.

It's definitely worth at test drive.

You can download Chrome here.

The First Test Of Chrome

Walt Mossberg has been testing Google's new browser, Chrome, for a week. His report is here.

Google Plans to Launch A Web Browser

Google plans to launch a web browser called Google Chrome in a challenge to Microsoft Corp's Internet Explorer, WSJ is reporting.

The browser launch is likely to be announced soon, the paper said, citing unnamed sources.

Info on the browser will be at this, not yet functional, web site: http://www.google.com/chrome

UPDATE: The browser's Beta version will be launched tomorrow.

Update 2:

From Google:

On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn't the browser that matters. It's only a tool to run the important stuff — the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.

Update 3:

Tech Crunch has screen shots of the new browser, here.