Following up on the latest developments in mail security of Yahoo!, it seems like they are keen on playing catchup with Google. Or is it the other way around.
Google has been letting the public do some Beta testing on a few embryonic web-based applications that their people in Googleplex have been developing.
Google Labs has been letting Google account holders functional use of what are brewing in Sta. Barbara. Just click on the link in order to see the multitude of software.
Now Yahoo! seems like it trying to go head-to-head with the search engine giant. I mean Yahoo! is big. But we all know that we have not heard of anything being Yahoo!ed yet. And we all do a lot of Googling.
Yahoo! is not a newbie in developing web services. Ever sinc they took over several services years back (Geocities).
In essence it is Google that has gone head-to-head with old player Yahoo! Though in my opinion, Google went in like a freight train when it rolled out Gmail et al. Only after a few days of trying out Gmail, I made the decision to shift from Yahoo!.
Gmail is still in beta, yet, most of friends I know, have made the same transition towards its more efficient mail handling over Yahoo!’s tedious and overly cluttered interface.
Next step came when it rolled out Google Talk, the instant messenging
equivalent of Yahoo Messenger. In this, I still prefer Y!M’s hipper interface as it “livens up” messenging.
Now as Google rolls out stuff from its Lab, Yahoo! prepares more innovations.
In terms of web-based services, Yahoo! is still ahead in services such as Yahoo! Music, Games and other entertainment. Now, they are also adding a few more gibblets in their otherwise expansive services menu. Take allok at yourself by checking Yahoo!’s services and Google’s.
What comes up in this is a difference in niche markets. Yahoo! focuses in clinching the flashy and hip market with its visually stimulating facade. Google, as it appears, caters the needs of those requiring functionality over anything else.
Yet, we all know that beyond this niching, these two Web giants are going mano-a-mano. Who lands the big blow? Well, l am really biased towards Google, as I anticipate when Google’s services finally outgrow beta. But who knows?