Question: What is a Dutch Auction?

In the purest sense of the term, a Dutch auction is the sale of one good to the highest bidder but instead of starting with low bids and going high, there is only one bid. The auctioneer starts high and then reduces the amount gradually. When someone accepts the price, the auction ends and that's the final sale price. One bid. The term has been adopted to a slightly different meaning in recent years, specifically the sale of many identical goods at once. The price starts high, and bidders can state their maximum bid and their desired quantity. Once all the quantity is accounted for, the lowest maximum price bid becomes the winning bid for all parties. Google's IPO followed a similar process.