Top Web search engine Google began taking bids Friday for the public auction process it will use to sell as much as $3.3 billion worth of shares to the public for its planned offering in mid-August. A Google representative confirmed that www.ipo.google.com had gone live, where bidders can apply to get an identification number to participate in the so-called Dutch auction.

The auction process is designed to put small retail investors on a more equal footing with the big institutional funds and influential investors who have traditionally been given better access. Potential investors would submit bids that include the price they are willing to pay and the number of shares they are willing to buy.