Yahoo rips rival Google
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By SIMON AVERY
n what may be the beginning of the next great public feud between technology giants, Yahoo Inc. yesterday questioned whether the great minds behind Internet rival Google Inc. have any strategy at all.
In the same spirit of snappy barbs that flew between the likes of Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. in the tech heydays, Yahoo's chief executive officer Terry Semel ripped Mountain View, Calif.-based Google as a glorified portal without a solid Web strategy.
Google “doesn't seem to have a real plan,” he said at a Web conference in San Francisco yesterday.
“I think Google has done a great job in search and will continue to do a great job in search,” he said, tipping his hat to his rival's ranking as the world's No. 1 search engine. “What search didn't enable them to have was some of the pillars of Yahoo; it didn't have personalization, it didn't have community, and it didn't have a whole lot of content.”
Mr. Semel's outburst ends a lengthy period of silence from Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo, during which analysts have increasingly been suggesting that the long-time darling of Silicon Valley has been caught in a slumber while Google tears a path of innovation through the industry.
Google has been rolling out one new initiative after another, from plans to blanket San Francisco with wireless Internet access to powerful search tools geared to bloggers and mobile users.
It's now mentioned daily as one of the biggest threats to Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft.
Google has also been rolling in public funds, completing a secondary share offering this summer that raised close to $4-billion (U.S.), and that swelled its coffers to $7-billion.
With 82 million people coming to its site every month, Google is raking in the advertising dollars. Company profit quadrupled last quarter to $342.8-million, and sales almost doubled to $1.38-billion.
Its stock is up 61 per cent this year, giving it a market capitalization of $91-billion. In contrast, Yahoo's shares have dipped 10 per cent, leaving it with a market capitalization of $48-billion.
Yahoo is by no means suffering. In fact, it ranks as the most visited site on-line, with 345 million users each month.
But there is a finite pool of advertising dollars for which all sites must compete, and yesterday Mr. Semel made his opinion clear that the market and everybody else is judging this race from the wrong vantage point.
What Google dominates is a niche, he said. Search activity accounts for only 5 per cent of page views. But Yahoo, which has been bulking up on its own content in recent weeks, offers a whole community to visitors, he said.
Google “wisely said, I'm sure, ‘We need communications products, we need things like shopping and news, we need other things,' ” Mr. Semel said. “From where we sit, it's starting to look more and more like a portal. As a portal, they would probably be rated No. 4.”
“This is a marathon — not a sprint,” he added. “Yahoo is very well-positioned for where the Internet is going.”
For now, at least, Google is taking Mr. Semel's shots in stride.
Lynn Fox, a spokeswoman for the company, responded: “We appreciate recognition of Google's leadership in search. It's a highly competitive industry, and that ultimately benefits users.”
Article submitted by: Some1
Last Update: 10-07-2005
Category: Off Topic Info
n what may be the beginning of the next great public feud between technology giants, Yahoo Inc. yesterday questioned whether the great minds behind Internet rival Google Inc. have any strategy at all.
In the same spirit of snappy barbs that flew between the likes of Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. in the tech heydays, Yahoo's chief executive officer Terry Semel ripped Mountain View, Calif.-based Google as a glorified portal without a solid Web strategy.
Google “doesn't seem to have a real plan,” he said at a Web conference in San Francisco yesterday.
“I think Google has done a great job in search and will continue to do a great job in search,” he said, tipping his hat to his rival's ranking as the world's No. 1 search engine. “What search didn't enable them to have was some of the pillars of Yahoo; it didn't have personalization, it didn't have community, and it didn't have a whole lot of content.”
Mr. Semel's outburst ends a lengthy period of silence from Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo, during which analysts have increasingly been suggesting that the long-time darling of Silicon Valley has been caught in a slumber while Google tears a path of innovation through the industry.
Google has been rolling out one new initiative after another, from plans to blanket San Francisco with wireless Internet access to powerful search tools geared to bloggers and mobile users.
It's now mentioned daily as one of the biggest threats to Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft.
Google has also been rolling in public funds, completing a secondary share offering this summer that raised close to $4-billion (U.S.), and that swelled its coffers to $7-billion.
With 82 million people coming to its site every month, Google is raking in the advertising dollars. Company profit quadrupled last quarter to $342.8-million, and sales almost doubled to $1.38-billion.
Its stock is up 61 per cent this year, giving it a market capitalization of $91-billion. In contrast, Yahoo's shares have dipped 10 per cent, leaving it with a market capitalization of $48-billion.
Yahoo is by no means suffering. In fact, it ranks as the most visited site on-line, with 345 million users each month.
But there is a finite pool of advertising dollars for which all sites must compete, and yesterday Mr. Semel made his opinion clear that the market and everybody else is judging this race from the wrong vantage point.
What Google dominates is a niche, he said. Search activity accounts for only 5 per cent of page views. But Yahoo, which has been bulking up on its own content in recent weeks, offers a whole community to visitors, he said.
Google “wisely said, I'm sure, ‘We need communications products, we need things like shopping and news, we need other things,' ” Mr. Semel said. “From where we sit, it's starting to look more and more like a portal. As a portal, they would probably be rated No. 4.”
“This is a marathon — not a sprint,” he added. “Yahoo is very well-positioned for where the Internet is going.”
For now, at least, Google is taking Mr. Semel's shots in stride.
Lynn Fox, a spokeswoman for the company, responded: “We appreciate recognition of Google's leadership in search. It's a highly competitive industry, and that ultimately benefits users.”
Article submitted by: Some1
Last Update: 10-07-2005
Category: Off Topic Info
Current rating: 5.81 by 33 users
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