Signs of rapid growth are pervasive at Google's European HQ in Dublin, but the firm retains a sense of fun, writes Jamie Smyth, Technology Reporter

The massage chair and table football machine that greet you in the lobby of Google's Dublin office suggest that the US company, which operates the world's biggest internet search engine, hasn't lost its sense of fun.

Google, which recently opened its European headquarters in Dublin, has imported the same comfortable sofas and huge fridges stocked with free chocolate, soft drinks and beer that have made it such a popular company to work for back in the US.

Founded just five years ago as a spin-off from Stanford University, Google has emerged as a clear winner of the internet era.

One-third of all internet searches in the English language are performed by Google and it has become so popular that it has become a verb meaning "to search on the Web". Last year it even surpassed Coca-Cola as the world's best known brand name.

The Googleplex (the name that Google insiders give to its Californian global headquarters) is attracting some of the best creative talent available in the US technology industry. And the fast-growing firm is currently on a big recruiting drive in the Republic.

Google has already recruited 100 staff in Dublin to manage its growth in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. And by 2006 Google will double its Irish staff.

Signs of rapid growth are everywhere in Google's Irish operations, with staff working in cramped conditions and an air of organised chaos in the offices.

"We are now looking to get a larger office because we are at several locations in Dublin," says Mr Angus Kelsall, managing director of Google Ireland, who acknowledges that its current arrangement if far from ideal.

He is bullish about Google's plan to manage its European operations from Dublin, where Irish and foreign staff coordinate with regional sales offices. And even though Google has now chosen Zurich as its European research hub, Ireland could attract more operations in the future, he says.

Strolling around Dublin's Googleplex, with its youthful staff and colourful furry toys hanging from the roof, feels like being back at college rather than in the engine room of one of the world's biggest technology firms.

But according to Dr Craig Silverstein, Google's technology director and first employee, who visited Ireland last week, this relaxed working environment is one of the main reasons behind the company's fantastic success.

"All these things help you feel more at home and make our employees feel more comfortable," says Dr Silverstein, who jokingly describes Google's headquarters as the "toy company".

Google employees are given a large amount of freedom at work, explains Mr Silverstein, who joined Google in 1999 on sabbatical leave from Stanford University, where he is studying for a PhD in computer science.

"Staff are encouraged to spend 20 per cent of their working day on their own personal projects, no matter if they are unlikely to become commercial blockbusters," he says.

"Some of Google's best innovations and services have emerged from these '20 per cent' projects. Google News started out as one of them and the social network website www.orkut.com was set up by a Google staff member."

But it is Google's core search technology, based on complicated mathematical algorithms, that has catapulted Google to the top of the internet world. Its software is based on a system called PageRank, which ranks Web pages according to the number of weblinks they are connected to.

Google has indexed six billion webpages and is constantly tweaking its search algorithms to ensure that its users get the best results, says Mr Silverstein.

By delivering accurate search results in an average of 0.26 seconds, Google manages to attract 138,000 searches a minute in 90 languages across the world. The sheer volume of searches is staggering and may even be changing the way people use the internet.

"I think it has changed culture by making it easier for people to do things on the Web. It has made so much information available so easily," says Mr Silverstein. "For example in the past people might argue in a pub about a particular piece of information. Now they can find this out very easily by using Google and so the argument can now move on to what the information actually means."

Whether Google is changing culture is a moot point. Critics point out that much of the information on the Web is low quality and inaccurate. Teachers have also warned that search engines are no replacement for libraries.

However, Google's Zeitgeist, a tool that compiles statistics on global internet searches, does offer a fascinating glimpse into trends in popular culture. February's Zeitgeist shows that singer Janet Jackson became the world's most popular woman, bumping Britney Spears off the pedestal, an achievement cemented by her revealing performance at half-time during the Super Bowl.

The huge success of Google's search engine is causing internet site owners to reassess how they construct their own websites. If a company does not appear on the first page of a Google search, it is unlikely to attract business. So firms and campaigners are constantly trying to second-guess the Google search engine to make their site easier to find and list.

So called "Google bombing" is a process through which internet sites add a carefully worded hyperlink pointing to a specific website in an attempt to boost that internet site's ranking when the phrase is part of a search.

One of the most high profile uses of "Google bombing" was when anti-war protesters successfully made the first result for the term "miserable failure" point to George Bush's official biography.

Mr Silverstein says he is not concerned by these attempts to change the results generated by Google searches. But "Google bombing" demonstrates what an important and lucrative business internet searching has become.

Analysts estimate Google's annual revenues at $1 billion and some believe it could attract a valuation of $20 billion if it floats, as expected, this year. This revenue is generated through advertising that it tailors to appear next to its search results. Google is also diversifying beyond search into other related business lines, such as shopping and news coverage.

"For us making searches better isn't just about tweaking the existing system; it is about creating new type of searches," says Mr Silverstein.

Google recently launched local searches in the US to help people find addresses, telephone numbers and the Web pages that relate to individual search terms.

The company is also moving into areas that until now have been the preserve of tech giants Yahoo and Microsoft. Last week it announced plans to launch a Web e-mail service called Gmail. The service will offer users one gigabyte of storage - 10 times that offered by its rivals - and powerful search tools to find e-mails.

But competing against the titans of the technology industry, will not be easy, and some analysts remain sceptical about Google's ability to attract a $20 billion valuation in a flotation.

Mr George F Colony, an analyst with Forrester, says the firm is not worth the tens of billions being bandied about as a target.

"Google at a $6 billion valuation would be great. Google with a cap north of $15 billion blows in the stench of Bubble II," he wrote in a recent research note.

Competition and the end of Google's honeymoon period with the media - underlined by the critical coverage of Google's new Gmail plan - could hurt the firm.

Microsoft is expected to tie a sophisticated search engine into its existing software later this summer in a direct challenge to Google. And in the technology sector first-mover advantage in a field doesn't always win the war for a firm; remember Netscape.

But perhaps the biggest problem that Google will face over the next year is coping with its rapid growth and managing its transition to a public company.

"When there is a big change in a company such as a newCEO or an IPO you risk that the culture of the firm will be affected... One of the warning signs is that people working here will begin to treat it as just a job rather than being passionate about search.

"But when I first joined Google in 1998 there were three people and now there are 1,000. I no longer dream about guessing the future or right size of Google," says Mr Silverstein, who has promised his mother that he will return to Stanford to finish his PhD. But judging by Google's prospects in 2004 and beyond, she may be waiting a while.