Given the rumor that today is the day for Yahoo to speak on the pending Microsoft take over, I thought I’d revisit the question I originally asked a year ago. Of the big three, what services do you use from each?
But first, I feel compelled to point out that at this same time last year, Google was being cited as Yahoo’s major obstacle. Now, of course, a partnership with Google is Yahoo’s theoretical last chance at avoiding Microsoft as its new owner.
For whatever reason, my own usage breakdown doesn’t include much of Yahoo. I still don’t use any of Yahoo’s major offerings (meaning: search, email, or advertising). I don’t do this on purpose; it’s just the way my online habits have evolved. I use Google for email (with Microsoft’s Hotmail as my spam account), Google for search (occasionally MSN/Live as my second source, though Ask has been taking that spot lately), and Google for advertising (I’ve played around with Microsoft here too).
But what about all the “web 2.0 / social networking” available from these companies? Well, I use Google’s Picasa over Yahoo’s Flick’r, though I did just start using Yahoo’s del.icio.us. And MyBlogLog (implemented on this site) is a service of Yahoo’s that I use as well. But that’s it: I pretty much use next to nothing from Yahoo other than del.icio.us and MyBlogLog.
I do use a dozen or so of Google’s free online toys and frequently switch between the Google versions of maps, desktop search, and earth and the Microsoft equivalents. For all the supposed “catch up” Microsoft has been doing, its offerings of maps, virtual earth, and desktop search are fairly comparable to those offered by Google (and Microsoft is the only company of the three that knows how to diversify: It’s still busy milking its cash cows of operating system and office suites while making a major move into the gaming / gadget industry with the Xbox, Zune, etc.).
In any event, I’ve never been thrilled by Yahoo. Google and Microsoft, on the other hand, are responsible for a big chunk of my online/tech experience. But, who knows, maybe that will change post Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo.
So what’s your Google / Microsoft / Yahoo usage breakdown?
I basically use Google for everything. I do have an email account with Yahoo, but that is only for spam. Occasionally I’ll switch over to Microsoft’s map service, but generally speaking I like Google Maps better (street view really amazes me!)
I used to use Yahoo a long time ago for searching, but once Google came along, I knew Yahoo was no longer superior. Since then, I’ve never gone back.
I use Microsoft Virtual Earth 90% of the time against Google Earth, mainly for the great Birdseye views 🙂 Yahoo maps doesn’t really do it for me, but occasionally I plug it into TileProxy for FSX (for flight sim purposes) as it gives good coverage of the US.
Google search is used 90% of the time against Live Search. Not that I would say there is much difference between them, its just my fingers are in a habit of typing ‘google’ for searching. Yahoo isn’t used here at all.
I use Yahoo Mail the most, with my secondary account being hotmail. I have tried GMail, and can’t honestly see why everyone raves about it. Yahoo Mail blocks out most spam, and provides a great interface to use as well 🙂
So, in conclusion, I use each company the most for a different purpose. If I had to state one company that takes the prize, I would probably say Microsoft, as I use its Video and Academic searches quite a lot too.
I use Gmail for my main email account, and then I have a yahoo account that used to be my main mail account, but has slowly turned into a junk mail account. I also have a hotmail account, but thats primarily because I just wanted an account to use msn. Its been a long time since anyone I know has actually used hotmail as a real email account.
For IM, I use MSN but that is primarily because everyone uses it. I used to use ICQ primarily (much better than msn, especially for file transfers). I have tried yahoo’s messenger and the aol one, but none of them really sparked an interest.
For maps and stuff, I use Google earth and maps exclusively, with the occasional use of mapquest instead.