googleplex

Departing Googler: Perks are nice, but I was bored and not getting rich

Nicholas Carlson · 04/15/08 11:00AM

An anonymous software engineer who says he used to work on AdWords, Google's lucrative if straightforward ad-selling system, has written a blog post explaining why he's leaving the search giant. Unfortunately, his tenure at Google did not include a tutorial on the use of the "Return" key, and most of his post is one long paragraph reaching 1,422 words. Here's the 100-word version on why he split for a social-networking startup.

Google chefs have the best jobs in the business, if not in the company

Jordan Golson · 04/10/08 09:00PM

Google chef Eric Dela Cruz works Monday through Friday — an unusual schedule for a master of the culinary arts, most of whom never have a weekend free. From this interview he gave to food blog YumSugar, it sounds like he has the best job in the industry: low-pressure, big budget and, as long as the food is good, positive feedback from everyone he runs into.

4 reasons why DoubleClickers should ditch Google

Nicholas Carlson · 03/31/08 08:00AM

We've been hearing that impending layoffs have DoubleClick employees fearing for their jobs after Google finishes its takeover. Why? Working there sucks. Ask any Googler. Below, four reasons why DoubleClickers should welcome their liberation from the Googleplex:

White Google executive fibs to Congress about black employee count

Owen Thomas · 03/26/08 01:20PM

It's no secret Google has painfully few black employees. Why lie about it? Laszlo Bock, Google's exceedingly Caucasian vice president of people operations, assured members of Congress last June that Google, which was lobbying for more H1-B visas for immigrant workers, had plenty of black employees. "We have a very strong internal Black Googler Network," he said. "We actually view it as our obligation to reach out to underrepresented communities in our industry, particularly women in engineering, particularly African-Americans. "How many [of Google's employees] are African-American?" asked Representative Maxine Waters.

Bored in the Valley? Go visit Google!

Owen Thomas · 12/26/07 06:00PM

This just in from the tips jar: Reader Karen Waksman, visiting from Florida, asks for pointers on visitng Google's Mountain View headquarters. I've been to the Googleplex often enough, but never thought of it as a tourist attraction. Waksman is hardly alone, though. "Hugo" on Hereorthere.com got a tour.

Hitler chat a perk of working at Google

Mary Jane Irwin · 12/26/07 01:40PM

There must be something in the air — perhaps all this Yuletide spirit — that unearths fresh adoration of little baby Hitler. Will Smith had a run-in with the Jewish Defense League over his comments about Hitler's basic goodness. That in turn raised the Internet's Führer radar, uncovering one of the overlooked perks of working for Google: unlimited Hitler talk!

Googleplex events

Megan McCarthy · 12/12/07 05:00PM

Your plans tonight: Talk money, social graphs, or Belgian beers. Or, crash a press-only bash at the Googleplex. All in tonight's Valleywag Calendar.

Google's holiday party

Owen Thomas · 11/09/07 10:29AM

Did you get your pass to the Google Holiday Party? We understand. Email can be so unreliable. A helpful tipster saved us the trouble of digging through our Gmail spam filter to find our invitation. Don't know if we'll crash the December 12 event at the Googleplex. If it's like past parties, expect a room full of tiresomely cheery Google flacks and a drive-by appearance by Larry and Sergey. If you do get any founder face time, watch out: They'll likely bore you to tears with an explanation of why they call Web applets "gadgets" instead of "widgets." Not that you could use any of that conversation anyway, since the event is "off the record." Still want to go? After the jump, the full detail of the exclusive holiday soiree.

Aging crooner hits the Googleplex

Owen Thomas · 11/05/07 07:51PM

So this old guy brought his familiar patter to Google's Mountain View headquarters today — oh, and Tony Bennett was there, too. Bennett is just one in a series of musical entertainers brought to the Googleplex, which is a heck of a perk. It's like a free trip to Vegas without having to leave your office. No word on the set list Bennett performed. But given the proclivities of Burning Man attendee and Google CEO Eric Schmidt, might we suggest "Anything Goes"?