Google Code Jam 2008: Programmers Worldwide Invited to Participate in Google’s Global Coding Competition

Registration opens June 17; regional finals to be held in October before grand final in Mountain View on November 14

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that registration is now open for Google Code Jam 2008. Programmers ready to use their coding skills, creativity, and ingenuity to solve a series of challenges can register at http://code.google.com/codejam. The top 500 contestants will win an all expenses paid trip to the semifinals at regional Google offices, with the top 100 advancing to the grand final at Google’s Mountain View headquarters.

“Google Code Jam is an incredible opportunity for the most talented computer scientists in the world to come together and compete on an international stage,” said Vic Gundotra, Vice President, Engineering. “Google is proud to support these coders as they take on some of the world’s most challenging programming problems, and we’re pleased to have the chance to introduce them to our research and offices around the world.”

This year marks the first year with regional semifinal playoffs in over ten countries. “It’s an incredible opportunity to introduce the best of the programming world to our offices across the globe and demonstrate the incredible diversity of experiences that Google offers engineers worldwide,” said Nelson Mattos, Vice President, Engineering, EMEA.

This year’s Google Code Jam will be powered by tools created by a 20%-time team that includes previous Code Jam winners, and will allow contestants to program in any language.

In addition to the trip to local engineering offices and Mountain View, finalists will also divide over $80,000 in prize money:
Grand Prize: $10,000
2nd place: $5,000
3rd place: $2,500
4th-10th place: $1,500 each
11th-30th place: $1,000 each
31st-50th place: $750 each
51st-75th place: $500 each
76th-100th place: $250 each

Participants can register throughout the qualification round, which ends July 17.

In 2006, more than 21,000 competitors from over 100 countries took part in the Google Code Jam, and Petr Mitrichev of Russia won the grand prize. More information about Google Code Jam, including rules and regulations, can be found at http://code.google.com/codejam.