Google I/O tickets scalped on eBay

Event famed for hardware giveaways sells out in record time.

Google has faced a barrage of criticism after tickets to its I/O developer event sold out in record time, appearing soon after on eBay for four times their original prices.

Senior vice president for engineering Vic Gundotra said in a Google+ post that the 5500-plus tickets were sold in a little over 20 minutes.

However, developers who did not manage to secure tickets alleged they were served "no tickets available" messages within minutes of sales opening.

Several tickets appeared on eBay a short time later. At the time of writing, academic tickets that sold for $US300 were being auctioned for between $US1250 and $US1500 each.

One general admission ticket that originally cost $US900 was listed with a "Buy It Now" price of $US4000.

Although the event is officially targeted at developers for Google's various platforms, it has gained cult-like status for consumer product giveaways that are worth more than the face value of the tickets.

Last year, developers that attended various sessions received a Galaxy 10.1 Honeycomb tablet before its official release and an Android-powered PlayStation phone.

The 2011 event sold out in 59 minutes and was also heavily scalped on eBay.

In 2010, Google gave attending developers two Android-powered smartphones.

Gundotra tried to placate angry developers this year by announcing the company would live stream some of the larger sessions.