Internet search outfit Google is losing staff at an alarming rate, sparking fears that the company will soon suffer from a brain drain.

Google has lost its third senior executive in as many weeks.  Douglas Merrill, Chief Information Officer and architect of its e-commerce service, Google Checkout, has left to join the record company, EMI. Merrill is one of a string of employees at Google whose tenure pre-dates the company's flotation in 2004 and whose share options have made them incredibly rich.

Recruiters say that Google employees are prized across the technology industry and beyond, because the company has had a reputation for hiring the best and brightest graduates and executive talent.

However this is at a much lower level than Merrill who was seen as Google to the core.