Google is Going Public in a $2.7 Billion Offering.

The planned initial public offering promised to enrich the founders and early backers of the unconventional six-year-old company, which posted revenue of almost $1 billion last year.

It also set the stage for a new round of competition for Internet advertising dollars between Google and deep-pocketed rivals Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) and Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news)

In keeping with Google’s quirky culture, co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page promised in an “owners manual” for prospective investors that its debut as a public company would not change its culture. In doing so, they repeated the company mantra: “Don’t Be Evil.”

“Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one,” they said, noting that investors could be in for a bumpy ride because they have no intention of smoothing results to match Wall Street expectations and would continue to invest in high-risk, high reward projects.

Google did not provide details on the pricing or expected listing date for its shares, but said they would be sold through an auction designed to even the playing field for smaller investors and “minimize” the “boom-bust cycles” that have characterized other IPOs.