As others have mentioned, this is more a sign of bad interviewers than a bad format. Of the companies I've worked at, at least one has allowed googling during t

As others have mentioned, this is more a sign of bad interviewers than a bad format. Of the companies I've worked at, at least one has allowed googling during the interview, and most de-emphasize all the stuff you have to look up in order to focus on the problem-break-down part of the question. I think there's too much imitation without understanding in interviewing. Candidates hear questions, and then go on to repeat them when it's their turn to be interviewers, without really understanding what's behind the question. These new interviewers then approach the interview as if they were administering a coding test, whereas what they ought to be doing is facilitating a conversation using the question as a starting prompt. The other problem that I see sometimes with interviewing is interviewers asking obscure questions. Really good candidates aren't solving the problem on the spot - they've come across problems like the one the interviewer asks, and are using approaches they've already validated in their life experience. When an interviewer asks an obscure question, they are not helping to facilitate a conversation as to whether the candidate can handle the typical things that would come his or her way.