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As hard as Yahoo execs try to dispel the notion, it seems only natural to think Yahoo’s new technology news and reviews Web site targets CNET Networks, Ziff Davis Media and the other incumbent Internet purveyors of technology news.
While there’s a case to be made, it seems Yahoo’s latest is also a big strike at Google.
Google has specialized searches, including one for Linux, shopping features like Froogle and a host of others for hunting down the same material as Yahoo’s offering. It’s also got Froogle, which combines product searches, user reviews and links to vendors.
But what it doesn’t offer is something like Yahoo’s new technology section, which serves as a one-stop shop for all that stuff and more. And the other big difference is that aside from offering content it gets from others, Yahoo is also dispensing original content, created by a Yahoo editorial team consisting of four of what Yahoo calls “tech advisors.”
Google usually doesn’t create its own content; rather, it largely relies on its army of users to populate its features. Prime examples are Google Base, the classified feature, and Google Video. While Google supplements Google Video with some premium content, the free video feature is one that relies solely on the good graces of users. It also has Froogle, where a similar mix of product reviews and news can be found.
Yet, Googlers must still rely on their own search skills to mine for the technology information Yahoo offers on a single locale, or of course forgo using Google and go directly to the technology news and product review sites.
Sure, Yahoo’s new tech section is competing against the likes of CNET; to say otherwise seems illogical.
Yet Yahoo’s tech section is also getting content to distribute from CNET, as well as aggregating lots of material from technology-focused blogs. So in a way, it’s actually a benefit, in the form of more traffic, for the likes of CNET.