[dimal]

I think it lets them mock all large tech companies in general without being tied down to mocking a single company. Outwardly, Hooli is Google, but also Yahoo, but some of the internal workings might not match either of them and align more with other companies. If they used Google instead, then they have to have a Larry Page character instead of Gavin Belson, and then they're tied down to mocking the real Larry Page, instead of tech CEOs in general. Gavin Belsen is much funnier than a fictional Larry Page could be. I'm pretty sure he's never killed an elephant, and it wouldn't be funny if they had a Larry Page character do that. The Nucleus plotline wouldn't make any sense. The list goes on.