They're doing it so that they can see your edits live, "prooving" that you're not cheating in some way.
But yes, this is asinine. Sharing your desktop through a video conferencing program and using the IDE of your choice would be far more realistic test, but Google likes to put hoops up to jump through that are smaller than your body.
Why can't you contort yourself like an octopus!? Fail!
Nah, it's because this is the process for phone, not video, interviews, which are somewhat more accessible. And you need the ability to record the code at the end anyway (which docs provides and a video doesn't).
But yes, this is asinine. Sharing your desktop through a video conferencing program and using the IDE of your choice would be far more realistic test, but Google likes to put hoops up to jump through that are smaller than your body.
Why can't you contort yourself like an octopus!? Fail!