eWeek’s Steve Bryant wondered what Google’s homepage would look like if it looked more like Yahoo’s. The purists look at him like they’re smelling onions, but others look at it and think it’s not such a bad idea.
The mockup has everything a Google fan needs: a search bar; front page access to all of Google’s (often unknown) services; a featured YouTube video; a featured Google video; a personalized Google Reader feed; and a big ol’ Gmail box.
In the past, Google distinguished itself from the portals like Yahoo, MSN, and AOL by its clean interface. It’s all about search and that’s what a user sees when he brings up Google.com. To the hardcore search geek it was pure magic.
But if you think about it, that clean cut image is from days gone by. Google isn’t just about search anymore. All they need is a simple redesign, incorporating what the company has to offer, and Google is a portal.
Remember Google’s “throwaway” product woes? Some pretty cool stuff has either disappeared into oblivion or has been kept out of sight of the general public (who don’t carve out time in their day to watch Google’s every move).
Each time Google tweaks the search options at the top, say, swapping out Froogle with Video search, the new top position spikes traffic immediately and dramatically.
So the first question is:
Is Google doing a disservice to its other products by not putting them out there where everyone can see them?
The second questions is:
Is Google doing its customers a disservice by making them bounce around to different domains users have to organize themselves?
It might good for Google to reevaluate its homepage to make it more convenient for Google users, even at the expense of angering the Google geek purists — or provide a sort of “Google Classic” homepage for them.
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