It looked like Google's stock market flotation might be derailed at the last minute by an

interview in Playboy magazine that seemed to contravene listing rules. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly given it the go-ahead, and the search-engine company could be valued at as much as $36 billion when its shares start trading. Is it worth anything like that？

Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, have always had an air of niceness about them: after all, Google was the first company to promise "not to be evil" in the prospectus for its initial public offering (IPO). Bat it appears as if the founders of the world's biggest Internet search engine have a touch of naivety about them too. In April, as they were planning Google's IPO, they gave an interview to Playboy magazine. Alas, such interviews can fall foul of America's tight rules on stock market flotations, which are designed to prevent companies from hyping their stock ahead of a listing. And so, just as the bidding for the shares got under way on Friday August 13th, it looked like the IPO might have to be pulled.

In the end, it didn't come to that. The Securities and Exchange Commission, America's main financial regulator, reportedly gave the IPO the go-ahead after Google refiled its offering document with the Playboy article attached. And so the innovative Dutch auction for the firm's shares is expected to wind up on Wednesday, with investors who hid at or above a market-clearing price paying that price. Google shares are likely to begin trading on the Nasdaq market on Thursday. The company and its bankers have declined to give details of bidding levels, but the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that most bids are within or above Google's own estimated range of $108-$135 per share, valuing the company at up to $36 billion.

The Playboy fiasco is simply the latest controversy to befall Google over the past few months. It has already had to offer to buy back shares improperly issued ahead of the flotation. And at the end of July, Google's website was crippled by an Internet worm, MyDoom. Of course, there are many investors with an interest in playing up Google's problems and talking down its worth, so as to get the shares more cheaply in the Dutch auction. And Wall Street banks, whose lucrative stranglehold on IPOs is threatened, are also keen to prove that companies cannot list without the help of banks in finding buyers for them. But even some supporters of the auction admit that Google's shares may be wildly overvalued, and that investors may not be taking into account threats to its dominance of the Internet-search market.

While Google is the undoubted leader in online searches, with more than a third of the market in June, its profits are still modest: it made $143m after tax in the first half of the year. At the expected valuation, it would be worth a staggering 187 times current earnings. Such a valuation implies a future of rapid growth and high profit margins. But, while most expect Google's revenues to continue to soar, its ability to make money from such sales is in doubt.

Google makes most of its money from so-called sponsored links—discreet ads that come up with any search—and can do so because of its dominance in search. But that lead is under threat. Until this year, Yahoo!, an Internet portal, used Google to power its searches, paying a license fee for the technology. But Yahoo! has acquired a number of other search engines, and in February cut its ties to Google. Google's share of all searches has fallen from 75% at its peak to around half, and Yahoo! is not far behind. Moreover, Yahoo! has a key advantage over Google: because of its vast base of registered users (100m people use its e-mail, travel and other services), it is in a better position to tailor searches to users' needs. Microsoft poses a threat to Google too. The software giant is developing its own search service,

A．Because Playboy has an editorial style. in stark contrast to that of Google.

B．Because Playboy is an important strategic partner of Google.

C．Because Playboy's interview of some Google executives implicated the IPO of Google.

D．Because Playboy offers a sound platform. for Google to proceed with its IPO.