You can get similar functionality very cheaply on AWS from the vt1 instance type. They're a PITA to work with, which is probably why they're still around $160/mo. for enough transcode to power a small city on spot. These cards can transcode a full ladder (5 resolutions) of a 60 minute 1080p video in around 4 minutes, or the full ladder for 8 60 minute videos in parallel in about 30 minutes. Those instances are based on off-the-shelf cards that cost somewhere around $2000 each.
Guessing Google went the custom route for wider codec support, but standard hardware for this stuff is readily available in the professional broadcast industry