In the Plex

How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

By: Steven Levy

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser

Length: 19 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Few companies in history have ever been as successful and as admired as Google, the company that has transformed the Internet and become an indispensable part of our lives. How has Google done it? Veteran technology reporter Steven Levy was granted unprecedented access to the company, and in this revelatory book he takes listeners inside Google headquarters - the Googleplex - to explain how Google works.

While they were still students at Stanford, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin revolutionized Internet search. They followed this brilliant innovation with another, as two of Google's earliest employees found a way to do what no one else had: make billions of dollars from Internet advertising. With this cash cow (until Google's IPO, nobody other than Google management had any idea how lucrative the company's ad business was), Google was able to expand dramatically and take on other transformative projects: more efficient data centers, open-source cell phones, free Internet video (YouTube), cloud computing, digitizing books, and much more.

The key to Google's success in all these businesses, Levy reveals, is its engineering mind-set and adoption of such Internet values as speed, openness, experimentation, and risk taking. After it's unapologetically elitist approach to hiring, Google pampers its engineers with free food and dry cleaning, on-site doctors and masseuses, and gives them all the resources they need to succeed. Even today, with a workforce of more than 23,000, Larry Page signs off on every hire.

But has Google lost its innovative edge? It stumbled badly in China. And now, with its newest initiative, social networking, Google is chasing a successful competitor for the first time. Some employees are leaving the company for smaller, nimbler start-ups. Can the company that famously decided not to be "evil" still compete?

No other book has turned Google inside out as Levy does with In the Plex.

This edition of In the Plex includes an exclusive interview with Google's Marissa Mayer, one of the company's earliest hires and most visible executives, as well as the youngest woman to ever make Fortune's "50 Most Powerful Women in Business" list. She provides a high-level insider's perspective on the company's life story, its unique hiring practices, its new social networking initiative, and more.

©2011 Steven Levy (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Thoroughly versed in technology reporting, Wired senior writer Levy deliberates at great length about online behemoth Google and creatively documents the company’s genesis from a 'feisty start-up to a market-dominating giant'.... Though the author offers plenty of well-known information, it’s his catbird-seat vantage point that really gets to the good stuff. Outstanding reportage delivered in the upbeat, informative fashion for which Levy is well known." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"The book, a wide-ranging history of the company from start-up to behemoth, sheds light on the biggest threats Google faces today, from the Chinese government to Facebook and privacy critics." ( The New York Times)

“With a commanding voice, L.J. Ganser narrates this history and exploration of Google….Ganser’s stern voice is clear and moves through the text with determination.” ( AudioFile)

Important book on an important company

No one can argue either the phenomenal success of Google, or the fact that it's a little weird. This book gets you behind the scenes to explain how Google became so important to our lives, and to expose a little dirty laundry. Great read!

I want in the plex!

I loved this book for the content. I have learned so much about the internet in general, and how clever the Googlers really are. And principled - who does that these days in business? They deserve every bit of their success.

Very in-depth

this is an incredibly detailed description of what Google does and how they do it.

Tweaking the wheel

In the Ples (Google) book is not a thrilling book, like a novel, but more like a information book about Google. The first half of the book is pretty dull. How Google got started, the founders, etc. It made me want to go to sleep for the first 5-6 hours because there has been so much coverage on this already, that the book is more like a re run of the same story. It doesn't gets interesting until after the background noise.

The book does a good job at going over each products that Google has to offer and how they manifested in what they have now like, Google 411 for voice recognition, maps, gmail and so on. The most interesting parts in the book is Google's relation to China and how they kept their principles. Also, the infrastructure on their server farms, how server farms works and redundant backups by using sub par disk drives and other cut backs, but because of their engineering and programming, cutting corners actually made the server farms run more efficiently from others. .

I've also read "What would Google do" by Jeff Jarvis and other books on this topic, but they are all commentaries and personal opinions.

Almost 20 hours for "In The Plex" is justify because of its content and level of detail and explanation and the hard facts.

I hope the author will write another issue of this book in 10 years on what else Google achieve and fail to do.

Google is just tweaking the wheel to roll faster.

An impressive insight into an impressive company

A well researched and excellent perspective on the thinking driving a company and technology that is and will shape our world. I thought I was aware of google, but realize I saw only some of the surface of the water. But the deeper dive into not just what its done, but what was and is possible makes for a fascinating understanding of this remarkable technology and how it can, and most likely will be used...and a sobering reflection on the challenging societal questions of whether we're comfortable with going there.

Good insight to a great company

I loved the how the story focused on the constant struggle of maintaining the core values while growing to huge numbers.

Great early history

Having read “In the Plex” as an outsider and again as an employee, Mr Levy does a fantastic job chronicling Google’s story from inception to the passing of the C.E.O torch from Eric Schmidt to Larry Page.

I originally bought this book a few months after it was published, when I started interviewing for a job at Google. I knew of Google and used some of their products, but working there was never on my radar, and I wanted to understand the company better.

I wasn’t at Google for any of the events covered in the book, but none of the first (or second, or third) hand accounts I’ve heard in my years with the company have contradicted Mr. Levy.

Overall, the book paints Google in a positive light, but Mr. Levy doesn’t shy away from criticism. The author maintains the tone of a seasoned, unbiased, journalist throughout.

The company has changed significantly (both internally and externally) since the publication of this book. However, I still consider “In the Plex” the best single resource for understanding how Google, as a company and the individual employees at large, thinks and works.

My only criticism of "In the Plex" comes from insight as a Google employee. Mr. Levy only scratches the surface of how central the user, their needs, and their feedback are to the day-in, day-out work at every level. For example, the APM trip is characterized as the bright young minds going on a spring break-like world tour. It is, to be sure, but almost every second is focused on truly understanding the people in the communities they visit. With only a rare exception, Googlers care deeply about making products that help people. I’m not writing this to promote Google or it’s products, or to claim it's employees are anything other than human beings. I only add it in my review here because it’s one of the primary reasons people join the company and a fundamental driver of life on the inside, and I didn't think that came through in the book.

Good book on the history but way to long

book was good but book goes into great detail about China and such which you can skip

Great listen

I have a new found appreciation for Google and the work it has done and continues to do.

Facts, you're not entittled to have your own

What other book might you compare In the Plex to and why?

Business books, business story books are a dime a docen. From classics like Ron Chernow Titan, to newer books like Alibaba by Duncan Clark, it seems that great lessons can be taught from almost all businesses. But really great business lessons, not so much. In that cense the book structure and content is pretty much like most business books out there, but that is why it is an important read. Google has shaped our history and it will probably continue to do so. Understanding why this company came to be, is important for general knowledge, and also cool facts... that are not you're own!