I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Google in Dec 2011
Interview
Recruiter contacted me on LinkedIn. I spoke with her for about 15 minutes and expressed interest in the job. She was positive and forwarded me on to a phone interview with one of their product managers. They gave me suggestions for preparation which I used. These suggestions included thinking about existing products and how I might change or enhance them. I prepared a few examples, shying away from Google products per their advice. In the interview I discussed the changes I would make to a web site which I had once visited often but no longer did after its redesign. The next question asked me to estimate the cost of solar panels needed in the US to replace all existing other energy supplies. I went through this estimation by describing the information I would need (number of households, per household energy consumption, efficiency of solar panels, increases in efficiency over time, etc.).
Apparently he did not like my answers. Overall, I wasn't super impresses with him either, so perhaps it is for the best. Interestingly, the interviewer did not himself ever go through the interview process at Google. He was a product manager at an acquisition.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Describe an existing product and how you would improve it.
You would have to do a hiring assessment first, then a recruiter screening follows. First round interview with the hiring manager. Majorly product sense and product improvement. The questions were not direct though.
Overall a lot of steps to the interview process. Talked to different people and had opportunities to ask questions. Many different stages which made it a lengthy process overall. Wasn't too bad.
it was very long and had multiple stages. it never required any in person activity or any relocation to an office or company building. I did not take the job in the end but i recommend it