I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Google (Mountain View, CA) in Nov 2012
Interview
Phone screen with recruiting followed by conference call with hiring manager.
Once selected for an interview, very attentive process. Full day's worth of interviews, primarily with peers or collaborative partners within the team matrix. Questions varied from open, unstructured conversation to more rigid standardized inquiries. The more senior people were conversational. None of the asks were the "absurd" brain teaser questions you read about. Rather - they sought to understand how you apply your toolkit on the fly in a series of hypothetical scenarios.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe the competitive landscape for the space in 5 years and attempt to price the total value of the market and key determinants for share.