nikoschopen
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msg #42281
- Ignore nikoschopen |
3/21/2006 1:38:43 AM
Google Rolls Out Finance Site
Chris Kraeuter, 03.21.06, 12:00 AM ET
Burlingame, Calif. - Google has launched a long-awaited financial news site, which will compete directly with significant Web traffic generators for Yahoo! and Microsoft's MSN unit.
Google's (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) site, finance.google.com, will compile news, stock-price data, stock charts, company fact pages and other financial data, much like the offerings at other finance Web sites. Finance sites are some of the most popular on the Internet, attracting 161 million visitiors in January, according to ComScore Media Metrix; that total was up 23% from the previous year.
Unlike other financial Web sites, Google will not produce any of its own information, instead relying on providers like Reuters, Hoovers and Morningstar to produce their data and charts. Google will also use its own Web crawling software to integrate data, such as news, photos, blog posts and corporate Web sites.
Google had previously provided financial information through a framed page featuring information from Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) Finance, Fool.com, MSN Money Central and ClearStation. Users will now be able to access information through a dedicated link to Google Finance, followed by links to Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money and a few other content providers.
"We wanted to provide a product that would provide more usefulness and utility to make the experience of looking for financial information better," says Katie Jacobs Stanton, senior product manager for Google.
Stanton said the site, which like many other Google product rollouts is considered to be in "beta" form, will eventually add more international data and will become more customizable over time.
Google is not selling advetisments on the site, but the new product should still have an immediate impact on other financial Web businesses. Yahoo! Finance was the the most popular financial site on the Web in January, according to ComScore, which talled 34.3 million visitors. Micrsoft's MSN Money came in second with 24 million. (Forbes.com is a content partner of both MSN Money and Yahoo! Finance.) Google, whose search offerings dominate the Internet, will immediately be able to claim a chunk of that traffic.
Google engineers have tried to improve their offering by making the site more user-friendly and interactive than what is currently available.
For instance, Google correlates stock performance, in charts and in timelines, overlaid with news stories culled from 4,500 sources. A computer algorithm determines which story to display, just as it does with its main news and core search sites. "We wanted to remain a neutral body," says Stanton. (See: " What's On Google's Menu." [url]http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/28/search-google-analyst_cx_ckrr_0301Google.html?partner=links[/url])
In contrast, both of Google Finance's two biggest competitors have begun offering their own content in addition to data and news stories they compile from outside partners. Yahoo! Finance, which dates back to 1996, recently started offering its own group of exclusive columnists, such as Jeremy Siegel and Robert Kiyosaki, and placement on the site is determined by a group of editorialists. MSN Money also employs a team of copyeditors, writers and columnists, led by Editor In Chief Richard Jenkins, a former deputy editor of the Los Angeles Times Online.
Yahoo! Finance General Manager Peggy White declined two weeks ago to speculate on the impact of Google launching a finance site. "Rather than concentrate on any one given competitor, we really look at creating a superior products and a superior customer experience," she said. (See: " Yahoo! Braces for Google." http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/03/16/yhoo-finance-qanda-cx_ck_0315yahoo.html)
The Google site will not be completely automated. The company has hired an unspecified amount of message-board moderators with experience in customer support or online communities to make sure the boards remain on topic and to keep them free of spam. Anyone can access Google's finance site, but only Google account holders can post on the message boards.
(Source: http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/03/21/google-yahoo-microsoft-cx_ck_0321google.html)
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