Vantaggi
Technical management (and management generally) is very supportive of trying new technologies when a good argument can be made for them. Engineering and business have a good cooperative relationship -- I've never felt that engineering concerns fell on deaf ears from the business folks. Because things do move fast at Shopzilla, engineers at Shopzilla, particularly self-motivated ones, get a lot of opportunities to make an impact on the business. In many ways, it's like a start-up in the pace of change, but with greater stability (and already profitable). Perhaps different from a start-up, there's a healthy mix of seasoned employees and new kids on the block. Additionally, though like all workplaces, Shopzilla has its cliques, you do not need to participate in them to succeed. I have rarely had the time to schmooze with any of my co-workers, I have a life outside of work with its own demands and being down with the "cool kids" in my workplace is the furthest thing from how I want to spend my time, but I've always felt that there are plenty of opportunities here.
Svantaggi
Traffic in West LA sucks. The parking lot is always jam-packed. There is a fair amount of institutional lore that you need to soak up in short order when you start working here. Work is hard, sometimes it makes my brain hurt.