The following information contains the business analysis and opinion of the author. It is written with the intention of informing the job seeker about practices and conditions at the company as of June, 2010. It should not, nor is it intended to be used as a financial investment tool, nor to predict future performance.

Make no mistake about it, in 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin “brought Google to life” out of some great search engine technology, and a mold that sought to stop the “evil empire,” aka Microsoft. This was not necessarily a good or bad thing, and plenty of good things have come from the last 12 years of life with Google.

Of course, the world knows Google – it would be hard to find someone with access to a computer who doesn’t know the famous search page, or the Google logo.

Even before Eric Schmidt took the helm as CEO in 2001, Google was set to become a legend in search engine technology and in business models. No doubt the colors in the Google logo harken back to Larry Page’s days at Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan where he built an inkjet printer out of Legos. It’s that kind of brilliance and humor that thrives at Google, but there’s something else you should not mistake – the company is serious and it means to make a mark as well as money. Google is doing both successfully.

There’s an entire universe of industry and creative energy that gets generated from Google’s search engine technology. Google moved it’s practical “I’m feeling lucky” search from a hugely popular consumer tool to an even more popular business advertising tool. One business fuels the other, and it’s a winning formula; or, is it? There are skeptics who say Google is getting too big and starting to suffer from the same “evil empire” devices as its archenemy, Microsoft.

Despite the great services that Google search has brought to the world, as Google branches out and uses search mining to drive and reach advertisers, it is confronting some political and social barriers – all in the name of “transparency” and “open source.” And then, there’s that pesky competition game with Microsoft…

Google has a lot of products. In fact, if you count them, including developer and recent hardware products, you’ll get more than 100. Just a few years ago it would have been hard imagining more than 100 products (and growing), could come out of some great search engineering, but if you look at the life cycle of a user query, or search, you’ll get a bigger picture view of how and where along the way Google generates revenue. There are more and more stops along the way.

As the business grew, search engine data led to the almost natural development of what are now Google’s top advertising vehicles, AdWord and AdSense. Essentially, after the “dot bomb economic adjustments” several years ago it became clear profits in the search engine business would be sustainable and attainable in the advertising game. Google is definitely the leader in this category. Google pretty much created the industry. The change away from entrepreneurial to pure corporate biz mode came about the same time, as Eric Schmidt joined Google as its new CEO in 2001. It was very good timing.

On the second front for Google, delivering search results to people on mobile phones was a priority, and this year, with the introduction of Android 2.2, Google is vigorously pursuing expanding hardware markets that will support its open source operating system.

Finally, in the race against Microsoft for the lead position in cloud computing, Google Apps continue to lead the features wars over Microsoft’s Web Apps and Live Online. Microsoft may have lost some serious ground in the last two years with its continued commitment to desktop applications, and only moderate effort and drive toward cloud computing.

In future prospects, the key at Google will always lie in search in one respect or another. Knowing the penchant Sergey Brin has for exploring semantic approaches to parsing out rich media, there are sure to be upcoming developments in TV and film media ranking tools and possibly more tools that will target research and statistical analysis. Google made a hit with its Flu report – despite Art Levinson recently leaving the Board, we can probably expect similar useful contributions from Google engineers in the future.

Financial Analysis

Advertising revenues were up by over $2 billion from 2008, and costs of revenue were down by about the same amount. There was also an increase in R&D expense, which no doubt reflects at least to some degree, Google’s plans for more Android products. The important thing is that the trend is continuing from 2009, and 2009 performed well, despite serious economic hazards and a $3 billion difference in net operating income. Even with this 2008-2009 change, executives got a raise, with most of it being paid in shares of stock and options. Bonuses were consistent and high, and this year’s compensation is based on expansion and some moderate non-equity incentive drivers. What does that most likely mean? Growth of android, finalization of a pet R&D initiative, and continued advertising market focus.

Apparently, Wall Street shares great hopes and confidence in Google. After reaching a 52-week high of $629.51, the new mean target for Google stock is $670.38 (median $695), and a high target of a whopping $755.00. On July 8th, 2010, Google stock was trading below the low target of $544 at about $450.00. Which means Google has nowhere to go but up, and employees will share well in the ride to reach and exceed the target numbers. Google will definitely be looking for people with demonstrable backgrounds and results in successfully driving new technology and market expansion forward.

Market & Competition

Who are Google’s top competitors? In the overall market, and spread across the distinct markets that Google participates in, some would say there are few competitors. Still, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Apple are always at the top of the Google competitor list, and with Microsoft recently partnering with Yahoo to develop search technology, things will remain interesting for quite some time.

Google continues to make gains on Microsoft’s dominance in the productivity software (Office) market. Google Apps are simply superior online productivity products. Microsoft continues to commit to it’s SharePoint and Enterprise customers, especially in its web and Office 2010 developments. Google jumped on the cloud train early, and is a firm leader in the wars.

Employment

Most people joining Google come from Microsoft and IBM. Most people leaving Google go either to Microsoft or Facebook. As discussed in a recent interview with a former Google insider, generally this points to either an agreement or a disagreement with culture, and a willingness to abandon the Google ship for either more or less freedom. The chief complaints from those leaving say Google is getting impersonal, and growth makes it more difficult to foster and shepherd good ideas through any development or adoption process. On the plus side, Google offers some of the best benefits and working conditions imaginable. As that former Googler commented, “the food is great!”

The company provides above average pay, and there is a huge platform for advancement and career development throughout the company. You will work with people who are the best in their field. The engineering team is supposed to be beyond compare, and a huge highlight on any resume.One comment probably sums up things at Google: “Stability, Comfortable life, Free food, Get to work with some of the brightest minds if you are lucky.”

If you are interviewing for a software engineering role then you may first want to visit the website www.topcoder.com. Launch the “Arena” widget and go to the practice rooms where you can solve problems in the first and second division. Otherwise, you’ll want to remember that Google places a high value on education, published works, and impact. You will be interviewing, almost certainly, with someone who is a Ph.D., so remember who you’re interviewing with and be prepared to discuss some nitty-gritty about the job.

What’s the reward for all this kid-glove handling? At the end of the day, Google is repeatedly on the Top 100 Companies to Work For, and it’s usually in the top 10. It’s #4 in 2010.