Google vs. Yahoo: On a Collision Course

An anonymous reader writes "It's pretty clear from this analysis as to which company is ahead of the game. Take this simple comparison: at Google, engineers are expected to spend one day a week on a project of personal interest. This has resulted in new offerings like Google News and social networking site Orkut. At Yahoo, there are posters promoting the "Idea Factory", where employees are invited to well, submit ideas (read boring)."

Comments

I wonder

[jav1231]

I wonder how much of this has to do with Yahoo's age. Yahoo has been around long enough to become a more "standard" company. One that eventually loses touch with its grassroots beginnings and has to take it's catchy phrases from travelling self-help speakers. Google is probably headed that way, but for now they seem to have a few original ideas left in their backpacks.

Re:I wonder

[Fitzghon]

I agree.
Google is an innovative company that comes up with fantastic ideas again and again, and implements them.
On the other hand, the article notes that Yahoo bought the VoIP service DialPad. Yahoo's in-house research team appears deficient when compared to Google's.
Google is snatching up a myriad of the brightest minds around, and I think that over time this will prove to be their most important assent in the "search engine race".

Fitzghon

Is it me...

[InVinoVeritas]

Or are Yahoo! and Google somehow worth billions of $(US) by selling banner ads.

not a portal?

[bad_outlook]

Remember when Google said they weren't going to become a portal, and while they have tons of innovation, their 'personalized home page' and email service are starting to feel just like that. Are they just trying to avoid being 'tagged' as one thing and instead trying to retain their own personality? From what I've seen they've taken the leadership role from Yahoo years ago, so I wouldn't worry about anyone trying to piegeon-hole them; they are their own entity and a driving force for the Internet as a whole. Will be interesting to see what Google looks like in 10 years, heck, we'll be able to say "When I was a kid, Google was a search engine, that's it"

Google + Yahoo

[justforaday]

Google + Yahoo = Twingine (formerly the much better sounding yagoohoogle)

Room for both.

[alex_guy_CA]

IMHO the idea behind this article is just plain dumb. It would be like an article saying that in 5 years we won't have ABC and CBS or Disney Land AND 6 Flags. I use Yahoo AND Google every day, and I think I'm not alone.

Apples and Oranges - Time is the Difference

[Kinetic Kit]

Google and Yahoo are much different companies today and part of working at either business means understanding really what each company is trying to do. Google is a technology company; Yahoo is now a media company. The biggest difference, however, is this:

Google makes money by keeping people on their website for as short a time as possible. Yahoo makes money by keeping people on their website for as long as possible. The Internet traffic statistics are quite telling.

http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=lan g&lang=en

Re:Apples and Oranges - Time is the Difference

[arethuza]

Last time I checked, Google hardly made any revenue supplying technology. AFAIK the overwhelming bulk of their revenue comes from showing adverts to people who use their service, which sounds like a fairly traditional media company business model to me.

Target audience

[Iriel]

...is the lesson I learned getting my degree in Interactive Media Design. I don't see Yahoo and Google in competition as much as simply different services. Some of their departments cross over, but I use Gooogle for finding just about anything and email, while Yahoo is my portal to movie listings, my stock quote and a place to store bookmarks, notes and calendar based events.

It really depends on what you're looking for in most of the areas of service from each company. Google seems more interesting in refining ways to search and pioneering new uses for the internet. On the other hand, Yahoo is where I go for a remote login PDA. I'd like Google to provide notes/calendar features, but if they don't then I'm happy with a 2GB inbox, picture uploading, specialized searches and nifty maps. I'll just use Yahoo as an internet organizer.

It's Technology, Mate

[SpinningAround]

I am waiting for a company for the courage of its convictions. The company that won't sell it's soul for the NASDAQ. Maybe it's Google. Maybe it's not.

I like Google 'cause they are GOOD. Good at what they do. Yahoo is worthless as a portal and a search engine.

Stay with it boys and girls. Don't be a NASDAQ whore. Take the long view. Ignore the market. Do what the geeks do best.

Yahoo is winning?

[nonsequitor]

"Yahoo has a big branded advertising business. Google is all search. To the extent that brand advertisers want to participate in the Internet, Yahoo's a better bet,"

I guess this was written before a bunch of advertisers pulled their ads after finding out they were popping up while entering chat rooms for pedophiles. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/19/063920 5&tid=95&tid=98&tid=1/

So who wins? Though Google is bigger, Yahoo appears to have the upper hand when it comes to warm relations with Madison Avenue.

I just think its funny that the article lists its relationship with ad agencies as one of the strengths Yahoo has over Google. Personally, I think Google's ads are less obtrusive since they dont flash at you and try to get your attention.

Re:Hiring?

[mcho]

Well, I've heard/read from other sources that Google is the "Wal-Mart" of the internet, in the sense that they don't pay well. (And if I'm wrong, please correct me.)

Working for a cutting-edge company (and working on "skunk works" projects) would be a great experience -- but it's probably not for everyone.

In my short career, I haven't ran into too many people that think of ideas that they want to build. The majority of people just want to put in an honest day and go home. And that's okay.

(I, on the other hand, have a start-up as a side-project -- in addition to my day job -- because of my relentless curosity. I'm just an uber-geek.)

Re:Yahoo may be boring

[Anonymous Coward]

Well let me the first one to admit that I left Google few weeks ago. Yes they are innovative company and blah blah, but they are getting more into consumers than doing good science/mathematics. If you are into writing softwares etc, go ahead. But if you are like me who is more into algorithms and applied mathematics, innovations have stopped long ago. The neat stuff about data scavanging and mining is long gone. They have one infrastructure built and trying to milk it.

I am not trolling, but the sweet research days are over at Google. But as I said, if you are programmer and that sorts - you are ok and you may like it. For me I was one among who laid the foundation and time to move on.

Re:ZDNet r0x0rz!

[Eil]

Let's see here, Google's being criticized by "industry insiders" for giving their employees loads of free time, starting up new and enormously popular projects, "disregarding the status quo", and making billions of dollars in the meantime.

Sounds like somebody's jealous. Isn't it even remotely possible that Google is simply proving to the old-fashioned business world what can be accomplished when you take real, meaningful steps boost and maintain morale among employees?

Re:I am shocked, shocked

[chrisd]

You know, we have a number of free shuttles with wireless network access that pick up googles from SF and the east bay.

I'm just sayin...

Chris