Google Lowers Price Range

In an updated 10-Q also filed Wednesday, Google added an additional caveat, saying, "Management currently believes there is only a remote possibility that the ultimate outcome with respect to any such claim that might be made would materially adversely affect the operating results, financial position or liquidity of the company."

In the updated IPO filing, Google told prospective buyers that it has again requested the SEC declare effective the offering's registration statement, and that it will close the deal once that occurs. If all goes according to plan, the timetable could put Google shares in public hands as early as Thursday.

Late Tuesday, the SEC said it had made no decision on the registration statement.

Whatever happens, Wednesday's news will be read as a blow to Page and Brin, whose personal, paper fortunes suffer real-time hits commensurate with the lowered price range. The hangups are also fodder for those on Wall Street who believe Google should have gone public through a conventional underwriting, in which demand is calculated and filled by investment bankers, not an auction.

The snafu took a toll on other publicly traded Internet shares. Yahoo!(YHOO) was recently off 54 cents, or 1.9%, to $27.80, eBay(EBAY) fell 82 cents, or 1%, to $78.75, and Amazon.com(AMZN) dropped 48 cents, or 1.3%, to $37.75.

Google and its underwriters had asked regulators to declare the then-$3 billion initial public offering effective Tuesday so that pricing could take place as soon as Tuesday evening.

But regulators made it clear they weren't moving the IPO along Tuesday. "As of the close of business today, the registration statement had not been declared effective," an SEC spokesman told TheStreet.com.

A Google representative wasn't immediately reachable late Tuesday.

The news comes as the IPO process enters its final phase. Late last week, Google opened bidding under an unusual Dutch auction system that will have investor demand setting the price of the deal. The company then surprised observers by reissuing its IPO documents to include the text of the Playboy magazine interview.

The company also revealed Monday that the SEC and state regulators are probing some $26 million in stock and stock options paid to employees.

Google has been the top tech story of the year, what with its household name and strong growth in the hot paid-search business. Still, some investors have questioned the company's prospects in a fast-evolving, hypercompetitive business full of deep-pocketed competitors.

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