Google adding tabs a la My Yahoo
September 15, 2006I used to think Google was an innovator but apparently they’ve become more of an imitator. I just noticed my Google home page has the ability to add tabs for additional custom content. Just like My Yahoo has been doing for years now.
I guess it makes sense but it seems so “me too” for a company like Google. What happened to pushing the envelope? At least when they launched Google Maps it did something unique that no other mapping site did: it let you drag the maps around directly instead of clicking buttons and waiting for a page to re-load. But the new tab feature on their front door doesn’t push the envelope at all, it is for all intents and purposes just a copy of the multi-tab feature on My Yahoo.
Maybe there’s some cool hidden functionality that somebody will eventually uncover. But until then color me unimpressed. Google’s going to have to do better than this, it’s not the kind of feature that will draw in new users. It will certainly help retain current users but it won’t help with growth.