What would happen if Google looked like Yahoo?

[WurkAnimal]

Would be good to see if they would bring out a portal like Yahoo!

[Colin F]

They have a portal: http://www.google.com/ig

[Mazinger]

Would be good to see if they would bring out a portal like Yahoo!

Not at all. I like Google when it looks like a blank page.

[WurkAnimal]

They have a portal: http://www.google.com/ig

Never knew that, thanks for the link

[JakeS]

Never knew that, thanks for the link

I did, You normally go to personalized home page, It always comes up for me.

[LoRd_IrAq]

its will be good i think

[Floris]

I use the personalized homepage, but even that one is cleaned up as much as possible. Simple, clean, quick, no bull .. that's what I want, so I would hate to see Google design change into something like Yahoo. That said, I use yahoo too to search

[Dean C]

I do use Google's personalized homepage, simple and to the point. But I do like yahoo's a lot! I think the presentation is great.

[ManagerJosh]

If Google did anything of the sort, it means Google has lost its way. It would be a very very sad day if that happens

[Joe Page]

I did, You normally go to personalized home page, It always comes up for me.

Same, it's my homepage

[Wayne Luke]

If Google did anything of the sort, it means Google has lost its way. It would be a very very sad day if that happens

Why? I don't need to visit Google to search Google. I can do that right from my browser? What point does a homepage with nothing on it serve?

Google's lack of a portal is one of the reasons why I don't use Google. Their customized homepage is a start but really too much work for me to want to setup. Personally, I use MSN as my homepage. It gives me a good quick overview of the day, including a useable 5-day weather forecast. If I need more information on something then I can drill-down and visit other sites. I use MSN not only for its portal page but because it integrates with the tools I use a lot; Windows Live including Live Messenger and Live Email.

Anyway, my point is that portals serve a purpose. AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft make big money off of their respective offerings. Google doesn't need one really because it makes its money selling its databases not from its website.

[Dean C]

Why? I don't need to visit Google to search Google. I can do that right from my browser? What point does a homepage with nothing on it serve?

Google's lack of a portal is one of the reasons why I don't use Google. Their customized homepage is a start but really too much work for me to want to setup. Personally, I use MSN as my homepage. It gives me a good quick overview of the day, including a useable 5-day weather forecast. If I need more information on something then I can drill-down and visit other sites. I use MSN not only for its portal page but because it integrates with the tools I use a lot; Windows Live including Live Messenger and Live Email.

Anyway, my point is that portals serve a purpose. AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft make big money off of their respective offerings. Google doesn't need one really because it makes its money selling its databases not from its website.

I'd have to disagree with you there Wayne. The google homepage is very easy to set up and the stock one comes with weather and news modules anyway. It took me about 5minutes to put the stuff I wanted in there such as bbc news instead of google news, local news, a few feeds and my latest gmail messages

[Wayne Luke]

I didn't say it wasn't easy, I said it was too much work for me to be bothered. 5 minutes is more than I want to spend on creating a "virtual newspaper".

[Ben-S]

The only reason I go to MSN is to check my inbox. Google, Yahoo! & MSN are big competitors. My best search engine is Google & Search.com, because they give the most accurate results.

[Wayne Luke]

The only reason I go to MSN is to check my inbox. Google, Yahoo! & MSN are big competitors. My best search engine is Google & Search.com, because they give the most accurate results.

Yes, but you don't need to visit Google to search their content. Don't need to visit any search engine to search their content. I can search Google, Yahoo, Search.com, Windows Live, Ask, Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, eBay and many other sites from my web browser. I happen to use Internet Explorer 7 but I know Firefox has the same capabilities. Heck, if a small XML file was uploaded to these forums and a single link added to the header, I could search vBulletin.com right from my browser.

I visit websites for information or entertainment. Google's default homepage doesn't offer either. If it was my first visit to Google's site, I wouldn't know about any of their offerings outside of search. However if I visit MSN, Yahoo or AOL's sites, I know up front what they offer me as a consumer.