Dram Man

Google is accused of imitating Korean services after the world's top Internet search engine came up with a pair of applications similar to those of local Web portals this month.

Two recent Google introductions suspected of this are a "universal search'' unveiled last week and a "daily list of 100 fastest-gaining queries'' disclosed this week....

That is what Korea's so-called integrated search, which was launched by the country's primary Internet portal Naver midway through 2000, is all about.

The Financial News quoted two employees, both of whom worked for local Internet companies. 

One employee, who declined to be identified, said that in an interview for Google Korea's research and development center, the interviewers asked about the details of the program the employee was working on. Another worker said that Google Korea interviewers asked about the problems of search software as well as other questions on key technology. The interviews took seven hours, the worker said. Both sources said that, after the interviews, they felt like industrial spies. 

Google's interviewers also allegedly told applicants that if they submitted the names of the five best developers in their company, that would give them an advantage in recruitment.