As anecdote to match your story; when I last looked for a job, a Google recruiter got in touch, and we agreed that he'd set up a telephone interview. In the gap between that agreement and the recruiter getting back in touch to set a date, I'd had phone interview and all the in-person interview rounds at Facebook. I never did do the Google phone interview; in the delay between agreeing a date and reaching the agreed date, I'd accepted a good offer at Facebook. So, adding to your point about "six months of stress"; I was actively hunting for a job, and willing to accept the stress of the Google process, but a competitor swooped in, ran their process at a scary fast rate, and had me signing the contract in less time than it took Google to get to a phone interview. That's a recipe for only ever getting people who are willing to turn down other (equivalent) jobs for the chance of a Google job offer - the best candidates who are flexible on choice of employer go elsewhere, where the hiring process is optimized to fail fast.