Adding a little fuel to the rivalry between Yahoo! and Google, Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel downplayed Google’s role in the future of the Internet at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco, intimating that he feels Google is out of its league as the 21st century unfolds.
After touting Yahoo!’s vision to “create a whole new experience” in Internet media, combining technology with content, Semel busted Google down a few page ranks by implying the king of search had all of its eggs in one basket.
ZDNet’s Richard MacManus writes from the conference where John Battelle interviewed Semel.
“[Semel] thinks Yahoo! has a much richer experience’ than Google – and that Yahoo! has much more diversified model, which is well-positioned for user-generated content, community, etc. Indeed he said that user-generated content is of utmost importance’ to Yahoo! – gigantic piece of what we do.'”
Semel acknowledged that Google was great at search, but Google rules only in that area, and that, in the future will not be enough, as only 5% of page views are relevant to search, reports BusinessWeek’s Rob Hof.
In fact Semel went as far as dropping Google’s overall Web presence, in terms of portal comparisons, behind Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL.
“Noting that Google has a number of services in beta, such as Gmail, with fewer customers than competing Yahoo! services, Semel said Google is starting to look like a portal’ and as a portal, they would probably be rated number four… We have a much more diversified model,'” writes CNet’s Elinor Mills.
Of course one might say that Yahoo! and Google seem to be moving toward different ends, and that this type of comparison, while lifting up Yahoo! (which is Semel’s job after all), is apples and oranges. Google appears to be embracing a different strategy altogether.
While Yahoo! may remain more ubiquitous on the Internet itself, in the future we may see Google logos plastered on everything surrounding the Internet, reminding us of how we got there in the first place.
