I was at Google for six months in 2011 in a branch office (NYC) so take what I have to say with a grain of salt. I've been an ex-Googler (Xoogler) for more than

I was at Google for six months in 2011 in a branch office (NYC) so take what I have to say with a grain of salt. I've been an ex-Googler (Xoogler) for more than 4 times longer than I was a Googler. It may have changed entirely since I was there. I saw stack ranking, closed allocation, and mediocrity. There were some extremely smart people, but the corporate culture was a bit sleepy and resigned, and that was because of its closed-allocation regime. You get effective open allocation, quick promotions, and good management if Google decides you matter, but it's not likely to play that way unless you start in the right place. Google is still very impressive for its size, and if it went for open allocation, it would probably reach a trillion-dollar market cap in 4-6 years. It could win in a major way. Whether it will is unclear. It has the potential, for certain.