Google Bidders Grapple With Its Valuation; IPO May Fly This Week; Some analysts see likely initial price closer to low end of $108-$135 range.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)

Byline: PETE BARLAS

Even as they prepare to make bids, investors continue to ponder whether Google's IPO will be boon or boondoggle.

Investment pros are divided on that question, but a fair number of doubters have surfaced. That's because the leading provider of Internet search services plans to sell 24.6 million shares at $108 to $135 each, a particularly steep price.

And it's a company whose top rivals include fast-growing Yahoo and the world's largest software company, Microsoft.

Just Thursday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer vowed to compete aggressively against Google and others. (See story, this page.)

"So your rate of growth can start declining because Microsoft is spending a boatload of money on search and starting to go after some of your partners," said Youssef Squali, an analyst with investment bank Jefferies & Co., which is not involved in the IPO. "Then the valuation goes down."

Google on Friday opened the site ipo.google.com, which lets people register to bid. It's still uncertain just when bidding will start -- though it could be this week -- or when the stock will start trading on the Nasdaq, under the GOOG ticker. Google will sell the shares using an unusual method called a Dutch auction, in which anyone can bid after opening an account with a participating investment firm.