profile IPO running into difficulty," said Michael Browne, a fund manager at Sofaer Global Fund in London. "Sentiment-wise, it's not good." Google is using a modified version of a Dutch auction to sell its shares, and many in Silicon Valley hoped the unconventional company's IPO would breathe new life into the area's sluggish high technology sector. In a typical Dutch auction, the offering is launched at the highest price at which all of the shares can be sold. However Google could price the IPO lower to get a wider distribution of shares to retail investors. That in turn may crimp demand from institutions who fear that a larger-than-normal retail investor base could make the stock particularly volatile. Also weighing on the IPO is the uncertainty Google faces in a competitive market, where deep-pocket rivals Microsoft and Yahoo have aggressively invested in Web search. Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley are arranging the IPO.
