Skip to main content

Top Google Interview Questions

Review this list of 926 Google interview questions and answers verified by hiring managers and candidates.
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    1 answer

    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_transformation"

    Sunny G. - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operational_transformation"See full answer

    System Design
    Technical
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    1 answer

    "My least favorite product is a desktop software solution called Marg, which is used frequently at our family business. Its an inventory, bookkeeping, and accounting software for small businesses in India and integrates with the official government tax portal. The general journey to accomplish any task, say adding a new product type, is very unintuitive and requires someone to be hands-on and familiar with the product to actually do this. Getting there is pure hit and trial. Like most desktop sof"

    Shankhadip M. - "My least favorite product is a desktop software solution called Marg, which is used frequently at our family business. Its an inventory, bookkeeping, and accounting software for small businesses in India and integrates with the official government tax portal. The general journey to accomplish any task, say adding a new product type, is very unintuitive and requires someone to be hands-on and familiar with the product to actually do this. Getting there is pure hit and trial. Like most desktop sof"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Product Design
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    Add answer
    Behavioral
  • "impact analysis - Facilitate triage with engg and PM to understand the impact to system/ users. and Severity of defect. Work with Engg to estimate the fix and turnaround time to dev/test/release. will this delay the launch? If no, great. Launch as planned. If yes, call stakeholder meeting informing about critical defect, impact to system/users, estimate to fix and likely delay. Recommend delay launch due to criticality/severity of defect. Once get their buy in, present plan to fix, test and"

    Adib M. - "impact analysis - Facilitate triage with engg and PM to understand the impact to system/ users. and Severity of defect. Work with Engg to estimate the fix and turnaround time to dev/test/release. will this delay the launch? If no, great. Launch as planned. If yes, call stakeholder meeting informing about critical defect, impact to system/users, estimate to fix and likely delay. Recommend delay launch due to criticality/severity of defect. Once get their buy in, present plan to fix, test and"See full answer

    Behavioral
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    1 answer

    "A load balancer accepts requests from clients (e.g. web browsers on the Internet) and backend services (e.g. a web server). Load balancers are useful for replicating backend services onto multiple machines to meet increased demand. The design of a load balancer should address the following questions: What protocols should be supported? IP allows computers to communicate using packets, similarly to how people send letters. IP packets are addressed using an IP address and port number. "

    Anonymous Hyena - "A load balancer accepts requests from clients (e.g. web browsers on the Internet) and backend services (e.g. a web server). Load balancers are useful for replicating backend services onto multiple machines to meet increased demand. The design of a load balancer should address the following questions: What protocols should be supported? IP allows computers to communicate using packets, similarly to how people send letters. IP packets are addressed using an IP address and port number. "See full answer

    Software Engineer
    System Design
  • 🧠 Want an expert answer to a question? Saving questions lets us know what content to make next.

  • "Aim of compression is to reduce the file size and bandwidth consumed in transmission in order to preserve the quality of the image or text as experienced by the consumer/user. Text compression typically uses a library to act as a key for words, either words that repeat in the same document or words that are commonly presented in all documents. And maybe even word parts. Key points are that 1. it tends not to be lossy, 2. is simple/fast/consumes relatively little memory, 3. is pretty standard"

    Raymond W. - "Aim of compression is to reduce the file size and bandwidth consumed in transmission in order to preserve the quality of the image or text as experienced by the consumer/user. Text compression typically uses a library to act as a key for words, either words that repeat in the same document or words that are commonly presented in all documents. And maybe even word parts. Key points are that 1. it tends not to be lossy, 2. is simple/fast/consumes relatively little memory, 3. is pretty standard"See full answer

    Technical
  • +1

    "understand the top priorities and rank each feature based on value and effort criteria. Scope: emphasize on clarity and risk assessment of the features. In tough deadlines what is must within the feature. highlight the tradeoff early based on the above two"

    Anchal V. - "understand the top priorities and rank each feature based on value and effort criteria. Scope: emphasize on clarity and risk assessment of the features. In tough deadlines what is must within the feature. highlight the tradeoff early based on the above two"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Program Sense
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    27 answers
    +23

    "def friend_distance(friends, userA, userB): step = 0 total_neighs = set() llen = len(total_neighs) total_neighs.add(userB) while len(total_neighs)!=llen: s = set() step += 1 llen = len(total_neighs) for el in total_neighs: nes = neighbours(friends, userA, el) if userA in nes: return step for p in nes: s.add(p) for el in s: total_neighs.add(el) return -1 def neighbours(A,n1, n2): out = set() for i in range(len(A[n2])): if An2: out.add(i) return out"

    Batman X. - "def friend_distance(friends, userA, userB): step = 0 total_neighs = set() llen = len(total_neighs) total_neighs.add(userB) while len(total_neighs)!=llen: s = set() step += 1 llen = len(total_neighs) for el in total_neighs: nes = neighbours(friends, userA, el) if userA in nes: return step for p in nes: s.add(p) for el in s: total_neighs.add(el) return -1 def neighbours(A,n1, n2): out = set() for i in range(len(A[n2])): if An2: out.add(i) return out"See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    "Some clarifying questions. Does this include storage required for backup? Assume - Yes and only one replica. Will email be compressed? Assume - Yes Assuming world wide user base. Let's formulate the equation required to estimate this answer. total storage required = (Total users x storage growth/per user + new users x storage required/user - all users x delete storage)*compression ratio + storage required for one replica. Total Gmail users = ~1B Based on my own ema"

    Harsh S. - "Some clarifying questions. Does this include storage required for backup? Assume - Yes and only one replica. Will email be compressed? Assume - Yes Assuming world wide user base. Let's formulate the equation required to estimate this answer. total storage required = (Total users x storage growth/per user + new users x storage required/user - all users x delete storage)*compression ratio + storage required for one replica. Total Gmail users = ~1B Based on my own ema"See full answer

    Estimation
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    "Solving current problems by considering what would have happened if the past had been slightly different."

    Abdurhman M. - "Solving current problems by considering what would have happened if the past had been slightly different."See full answer

    Product Manager
    Behavioral
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    3 answers

    "Assumption: we are considering the US housing market. assuming "home ownership" means being able to afford a mortgage with 5-20% down, not only outright ownership. owners is defined as people who own houses rather than no of unique properties bought (so someone who owns 2 properties count's as 1 owner, not 2 owner whereas married people owning a house are considered 2 owners not 1 i.e we are defining millennial who can afford at least 1 purchase whether individually or jointly ) immigran"

    Ananya M. - "Assumption: we are considering the US housing market. assuming "home ownership" means being able to afford a mortgage with 5-20% down, not only outright ownership. owners is defined as people who own houses rather than no of unique properties bought (so someone who owns 2 properties count's as 1 owner, not 2 owner whereas married people owning a house are considered 2 owners not 1 i.e we are defining millennial who can afford at least 1 purchase whether individually or jointly ) immigran"See full answer

    Estimation
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    4 answers
    +1

    "You can ask some clarifying questions like 1) Ask if the list is already sorted or not 2) is zero included in the list ? 3) Natural numbers are usually positive numbers ( clarify they are non negatives) Solution : 1) If sorted use two pointers and sort them in O(N) 2) if not sorted , -ve / only +ve numbers in the list doesn't matter - the easiest solution is Use a priority queue and push the number and its square in each iteration Finally return the list returned by the priority Queue. N"

    Bless M. - "You can ask some clarifying questions like 1) Ask if the list is already sorted or not 2) is zero included in the list ? 3) Natural numbers are usually positive numbers ( clarify they are non negatives) Solution : 1) If sorted use two pointers and sort them in O(N) 2) if not sorted , -ve / only +ve numbers in the list doesn't matter - the easiest solution is Use a priority queue and push the number and its square in each iteration Finally return the list returned by the priority Queue. N"See full answer

    Machine Learning Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +1 more
  • "Clarifying Questions: Does Google Photos and this feature come pre built into pixel phones or does user has to download the app or enable the feature? (N) - So adoption is not the problem. Do we have auto upload option available for users? (Y) So any user who has this turned on would not be using this feature. In other words, this feature is mainly used for selective upload I think on Pixel phones, Google photos provides unlimited high quality storage? (Y) Understanding the flow: Camer"

    Jacob C. - "Clarifying Questions: Does Google Photos and this feature come pre built into pixel phones or does user has to download the app or enable the feature? (N) - So adoption is not the problem. Do we have auto upload option available for users? (Y) So any user who has this turned on would not be using this feature. In other words, this feature is mainly used for selective upload I think on Pixel phones, Google photos provides unlimited high quality storage? (Y) Understanding the flow: Camer"See full answer

    Analytical
    Execution
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    16 answers
    +11

    "function areSentencesSimilar(sentence1, sentence2, similarPairs) { if (sentence1.length !== sentence2.length) return false; for (let i=0; i (w1 === word1 && !visited.has(w2)) || (w2 === word1 && !visited.has(w1))); if (!edge) { "

    Tiago R. - "function areSentencesSimilar(sentence1, sentence2, similarPairs) { if (sentence1.length !== sentence2.length) return false; for (let i=0; i (w1 === word1 && !visited.has(w2)) || (w2 === word1 && !visited.has(w1))); if (!edge) { "See full answer

    Software Engineer
    Data Structures & Algorithms
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    1 answer

    "Assumption: the revenue is on a yearly basis. Revenue = No. of users x price of product x frequency of purchase x size of purchase Product of Google Map = Ads by the merchants To double the revenue, Boost the number of merchants by reaching out to them Increase the price of ads (which is not ideal since it will disincentivise some merchants) Increase the frequency of their purchase in a year (Eg. previously merchants just put ads in Google Map for 6 years and now we can encourage"

    Lee J. - "Assumption: the revenue is on a yearly basis. Revenue = No. of users x price of product x frequency of purchase x size of purchase Product of Google Map = Ads by the merchants To double the revenue, Boost the number of merchants by reaching out to them Increase the price of ads (which is not ideal since it will disincentivise some merchants) Increase the frequency of their purchase in a year (Eg. previously merchants just put ads in Google Map for 6 years and now we can encourage"See full answer

    Product Strategy
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    "Are you serious? What kind of dog is it? Why would a dog watch Netflix? What kind of movies do they like? Why are we only considering dogs? What’s wrong with cats? Are they going to play movies by themselves? Is it for pet dogs or stray dogs? Who will pay the subscription fees for them? "

    Rupam S. - "Are you serious? What kind of dog is it? Why would a dog watch Netflix? What kind of movies do they like? Why are we only considering dogs? What’s wrong with cats? Are they going to play movies by themselves? Is it for pet dogs or stray dogs? Who will pay the subscription fees for them? "See full answer

    Product Manager
    Product Design
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    1 answer

    "It was a Finetech product to help people remove credit card limited balance issue. The product is design especially for business man who usually use they credit card to make purchase or big transaction. Problem Credit card have a limit amont of money they can support. it is very difficult to handle situation where people want to make a transaction that goes beyond their supported credit card balance. Having many credit card is not easy to manage and go to trip with a huge amont of money i"

    Adegnika O. - "It was a Finetech product to help people remove credit card limited balance issue. The product is design especially for business man who usually use they credit card to make purchase or big transaction. Problem Credit card have a limit amont of money they can support. it is very difficult to handle situation where people want to make a transaction that goes beyond their supported credit card balance. Having many credit card is not easy to manage and go to trip with a huge amont of money i"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Execution
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    1 answer

    "Launch p2p payments on a chat application Clarify - - - - - - - - - - - any specific chat app in mind? [no] Is there a 3rd party vendor tech we can incorporate [no, build grounds-up] Markets [US] Framing - - - - - - - - - - - Messaging apps mission: be the go-to destination for 1:1, n:n info sharing and comms. Use network effects to gain market share Biz/product goals: Growth, gain more market share Engagement: time spent, instances of interaction and sharing Revenue: ads,"

    Calyan - "Launch p2p payments on a chat application Clarify - - - - - - - - - - - any specific chat app in mind? [no] Is there a 3rd party vendor tech we can incorporate [no, build grounds-up] Markets [US] Framing - - - - - - - - - - - Messaging apps mission: be the go-to destination for 1:1, n:n info sharing and comms. Use network effects to gain market share Biz/product goals: Growth, gain more market share Engagement: time spent, instances of interaction and sharing Revenue: ads,"See full answer

    Analytical
    Product Strategy
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    1 answer

    "Clarifying question: Why would google want to sunset Youtube? What would the business objective be? Based on how the interviewer responds this could go down multiple paths: If they said just because, then I would address the current state data for the YouTube business. Material benefits: XX Million active users $$ in Annual revenue $$ in subscription revenue $$ monetization through influencers Non-material benefits that align to google core values: Democracy on the web works"

    Aditi N. - "Clarifying question: Why would google want to sunset Youtube? What would the business objective be? Based on how the interviewer responds this could go down multiple paths: If they said just because, then I would address the current state data for the YouTube business. Material benefits: XX Million active users $$ in Annual revenue $$ in subscription revenue $$ monetization through influencers Non-material benefits that align to google core values: Democracy on the web works"See full answer

    Product Manager
    Product Strategy
  • "Situation: introduced to a new technology that I have never used before. I have used many different packaged software, tools and technologies and I can grasp things quickly. Lets assume this new technology is a Planning tool for TPM (Planr) Target: To get familiar with Planr, its use cases, learn it well enough to be able to use it Action: Here are some of the actions I would take to learn Planr well (1) Find documentation on Planr = various use cases, see screenshots, watch demos,"

    Adib M. - "Situation: introduced to a new technology that I have never used before. I have used many different packaged software, tools and technologies and I can grasp things quickly. Lets assume this new technology is a Planning tool for TPM (Planr) Target: To get familiar with Planr, its use cases, learn it well enough to be able to use it Action: Here are some of the actions I would take to learn Planr well (1) Find documentation on Planr = various use cases, see screenshots, watch demos,"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
Showing 381-400 of 926