Google yesterday introduced a personalised Google home page, pitting the most-used Web search site even more directly against its rivals Yahoo and Microsoft`s MSN portal.
The personalised Google home page integrates other already available Google features such as its e-mail service Gmail, news, weather, stocks, driving directions, movie listings and the like.
While Google has long said it had no interest in becoming a portal to lure users to spend much of their Internet time on the Google site, its move puts it in even more direct competition with Yahoo and Microsoft, among others, as the paid search industry becomes more competitive and ad dollars spent on Internet advertising continue to soar.
Virtually all of Google`s revenue comes from search-related advertising.
"We really hope to have this not necessarily be a platform ... but rather to help users navigate the Web better," said Marissa Mayer, director of consumer Web products for Google, referring to the notion of portals being "sticky" and retaining Internet users for extended periods.
"Our philosophy is we want to get people off the Google site" and onto sites that give users the information they`re seeking, Mayer said, noting that news content in the test version of the home page is aimed at that philosophy.
The Mountain View, California-based company said it also offers a broad inclusion of content, such as the BBC, the New York Times, tech news Web site Slashdot, Quote of the Day and Word of the Day.
Google`s rivals in search, Yahoo and Microsoft, have long offered personalised home pages on which users can customise news, weather, stocks, television listings, movie listings and more.
The personalised home page is the first fruit of an internal project Google calls Fusion that seeks to tie together, in an easy-to-use and seamless way, Google`s various product offerings.
Google said its personalised home page is only available now in a beta, or test, version at http://labs.google.com.
In one to two months, Google will add universal RSS feeds to the personalised Google page. RSS stands for really simple syndications, which lets users aggregate multiple news and information sources onto a single display on their PCs, Mayer said.
The classic Google home page -- which is a search entry box with other options to search images, news and the like -- remains available and users can toggle between the personalised home page and the traditional one, Mayer said.
Last month, Google reported first-quarter net income that was nearly six times higher -- $369.2 million -- than a year earlier, blowing past analyst estimates, as search advertising surged. Revenue almost doubled to $1.26 billion from $651.6 million.
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