Considering that both Google and Yahoo! they now look more like new age tech avatars rather than mere search engines, what makes them different? There is an obvious difference in the respective business planning as it should be, but at least one big difference to a layman lies in how they let you know where they stand.
Both are undoubtedly working on pioneering initiatives, but while Yahoo! apparently talking about it, Google prefers to play its cards close to the chest until the last moment before revealing it. Second, from the point of view of the search industry, there is a marked variation in the strategic planning of one with respect to the other.
If you look closely, it will be apparent that for a while now, search engines are no longer just providing search results, although that is still the mainstay. Armed with the treasure chest of user search behavior across vast geographic areas culled for over a decade, it does not seem surprising that for the major search engines the priority (to maintain sustainable growth) shifts more and more towards incorporating Innovative technology to power to make web life more informative and useful.
Both Google and Yahoo! have redoubled efforts to redefine people’s priorities on the web, away from the effect of just providing search results. The underlying assumption seems to be that there are a lot of them doing that, so there’s not much more to be gained.
Seen from this perspective, it is really interesting to study how the 2 giants are figuring it out for themselves. Let us take a look.
Roadmap of Yahoo!
Betting on the massive search for data and its evolution over time, Yahoo! Research [http://research.yahoo.com/about/] he has set out to discover significant information that may be useful in charting the future course of growth. in their own words [http://research.yahoo.com/about/]:
“Yahoo! manages many of the largest and richest data repositories in the world, and our researchers mine information from these giant collections, individually and collectively.”
The fact that data mining can help in strategizing overarching goals and planning for future growth demonstrates Yahoo!’s research plans. Therefore, it is consistent that the basic research of Yahoo! focus on 3 main fields, namely [http://research.yahoo.com/research/data_analytics.shtml]foundations [http://research.yahoo.com/research/foundations.shtml] and search [http://research.yahoo.com/research/search.shtml].
The technology game
An interesting offshoot of the Yahoo! is partnering with O’Reilly Media to design a “fantasy design marketplace,” called The Tech Buzz Game. [http://buzz.research.yahoo.com/bk/index.html]’, began in May of last year. The program lends you an imaginary $10,000 loot and entices you to bid for or against ‘fantasy stocks’ that represent companies involved in products or technologies that netizens believe will be popular (or disappear) in the future. And while you’re at it, the popularity or ‘buzz’ of a technology or concept is constantly calculated in the background by Yahoo! search frequency.
From Yahoo! already has a lot of elaborate search behavior, the tech game and others of its kind are presented as novel ideas that should provide vital inputs to enable Yahoo! achieved technological advances in the coming days. So in the case of Yahoo!, the strategy seems to be the traditional ‘design for market’ route.
google’s answer
Unlike the sophisticated programs of Yahoo! Intended to reveal patterns of surfer behavior, Google has so far let its products do the talking quietly. With a plethora of innovative products released in quick succession, Google has taken everyone by surprise. People are amazed not only by the sheer number of them, but also by the novelty and ease of use of the products. Just check everything that Google offers [http://www.google.com/options/]and you will surely be impressed.
Recent Google releases, like Gmail Chat
[http://mail.google.com/mail/help/chat.html] – or, for that matter, cunning tools and features like Google Base [http://base.google.com/]google local [http://local.google.com/]browse by name [http://www.google.com/support/toolbar/bin/answer.py?answer=9267&hl=en] – are unequivocally geared towards extending Google’s reach far and wide. The newest pen to add to the already impressive list is Google Page Creator. [http://pages.google.com/]it is said that it is still in the initial phase of testing.
Looking at Google, one is inclined to conclude that while strategizing for the future like Yahoo!, Google evidently thinks it better to shore up as many ‘followers’ as possible. The idea seems to be ‘do whatever it takes, but never lose sight of the core capability’.
Google’s seriousness about strengthening its main moneymaker, AdWords, can be gauged when it started offering Urchin for free. Urchin, rebranded as Google Analytics [http://www.google.com/analytics/], is a classy web analytics service comparable to the best in the industry. Today, the popularity of AdWords is staggering, as is the related revenue stream for Google.
For the record, Google Analytics is also available for free for all web pages, even without an AdWords account, subject to a maximum of 5 million page views per month. This limit does not apply to “active” AdWords accounts. Getting your own Google Analytics is difficult as one has to wait in a queue and this can take several months.
So what?
The jury is still out on who will eventually carry the torch for the most innovations in the field of search. Between the two, Google seems to be more successful in correctly reading the needs of the market. As a result, it has achieved an unquestionable advantage (as of now) over its main rival in both organic and ppc searches. No wonder, admits Yahoo! CFO Susan Decker [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/256748_yahoo24.html] as much.
Tomorrow’s web users will not only communicate live on the web, but will also seek advanced technology to live an easy life offline. The web will become ubiquitous in everything we do, and a large part of web activity, in addition to fun, entertainment and electronic conversations, will continue to seek the right information at the right time. It is here that Google and Yahoo! it will remain relevant, although the type of service and its delivery can be expected to undergo many changes.
As stated before, both Yahoo! and Google can boast of having a gigantic database of how people use them when searching for information. Putting them to use for real benefits for a large crowd of Internet users is the main challenge. At the moment, Google is considered to be way ahead. What happens in the future only time will tell.