The Many Happenings

Though there are many competing companies out there, I seem to love comparing Google’s services to Yahoo!’s the most. They both have many compelling areas and feature-ridden portions of their sites, especially with advertising, but there is one that stands out amongst the rest when you launch up your browser for the first thing in the morning; the personalized hompage. A place that instantly gives you all of the internet in one singly tiny dos, thanks to the power of RSS feeds and other XML based widgets. Both Yahoo! and Google offer a personalized homepage, so let’s dig in and see the differences and which one is ultimately better.

Let’s start off with the names. We have “My Yahoo!” and “iGoogle.” Both leading search engines have silly names to begin with, and if you get beyond that, My Yahoo! seems to be a little more self explanitory than iGoogle in terms of a personalized homepage. Sure, iGoogle could be read in context similarly to “I Think, Therefore I Google,” but nowadays anything with a lower cased “i” in front of it is taken as related to Apple. To me, iGoogle sounds like the name of Steve Jobs’ hanky, and an utter ripoff of the shiny Apple lineup. My Yahoo! explains that it has everything you would need in one Yahoorific area. Winner: My Yahoo!

Next, let’s look at the features. Both services allow you to add RSS feeds to read right on the dashboard, and both have many widgets and tools to select from. However, it seems as if iGoogle has a few more, and that they integrate better with Feedburner and other RSS feed services. I added my feed to both homepages, and iGoogle updated it more frequently and more accurately. You can select the update time you want on either service, but it didn’t always work with My Yahoo! It seems like they have a few kinks to work out in this area. Also, Google has a more accurate and better search engine, and for those not using Firefox it is good to be able to click your homepage button and be presented with the Google search field. Winner: iGoogle

Appearance. Both services allow you to customize and pick from many different looks and skins, but My Yahoo! seems to have more customizability. Not only do they have textures and skins, but they have colors and layouts. In My Yahoo!, if you aren’t a fan of the three column layout, then make it two, or two with a larger sidebar. You are stuck with the “Web 1.0″ triple column look of iGoogle’s layout, and you can only change the skin style.

My Yahoo! also lets you choose the background color. With iGoogle, you are left with only the option of a white background. Winner: My Yahoo!

Here is My Yahoo!’s appearance panel:

And here is iGoogle’s:

If you were wondering, here is what the two look like with many features added:

So take your pick. Both services have tabs, have many features and tools, and whether you use My Yahoo! and use Gmail, or whether you use iGoogle and use Yahoo! Mail, you can still add a widget either way for convenience. I was actually shocked when I tried to add a Gmail widget to My Yahoo! and it worked, but that just shows the openness each company allows on their personalized homepage.

My Yahoo! has more customizability and for what it’s worth a better name, but iGoogle has better functionality and a better search engine. I’m going to be using My Yahoo! now just because I think it looks cooler and due to the fact that I have already been using iGoogle for a year and am ready for a change of scenery. According to this review, My Yahoo! wins overall, but either way, you won’t lose anything.

Technorati Tags: Google, Yahoo!, My Yahoo!, iGoogle, Homepage, Internet, Browsing, Personalized Homepage, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Apple