Don't confuse the mystique for reality. Google is just a large company now. The mystique helps them recruit talent. The interviews are mostly a filtering process since they have far more people applying than they actually need. Being a large company, they have more than their fair share of bozos who are now the gatekeepers of that process. The only thing that Google management really cares about at this point is maximizing profit. It's just a business and that's reflected in everything they do and don't do these days.
There's nothing wrong with any of that. If you want to make more money and/or get Google on the resume to open up some new doors, keep trying and you'll probably eventually find a way in. Just don't think it's going to be some sort of techie nirvana... it's going to be a lumbering bureaucratic beast ruled by politics as virtually all large companies are.
If you're looking for technical challenge and growth, you probably want to be looking at smaller tech companies who are where Google was 10+ years ago.
There's nothing wrong with any of that. If you want to make more money and/or get Google on the resume to open up some new doors, keep trying and you'll probably eventually find a way in. Just don't think it's going to be some sort of techie nirvana... it's going to be a lumbering bureaucratic beast ruled by politics as virtually all large companies are.
If you're looking for technical challenge and growth, you probably want to be looking at smaller tech companies who are where Google was 10+ years ago.