Google officially establishes itself as a portal

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently changed the "Google Personal Home" web page that greets millions of internet users every day to "iGoogle" as the company delves more into personalization. Okay, Google, it's official, you are now a complete internet portal.

What does that mean? See this for a detailed explanation. For years, Google has downplayed the fact that it is a "portal" while building all these personalized services for customers. No more.

This is significant because Google is taking the fight directly to competitor Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO). Google wants customers to get used to all the personalized and custom services Google can provide better (hopefully) than the competition. iGoogle features a few key differences from the former Google personal homepage, such as allowing customers make their own "gadgets". Umm, does this sound like the "gadgets" from Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows Vista? Yep -- but Google is also letting users make their own "gadgets" in addition to using pre-defined ones like news headlines, weather, traffic, etc.

Google's personal start page was the company's fastest-growing product last year, which is probably why it's in focus right now. If these changes look like a direct attack on Yahoo!'s portal as well as Microsoft's Vista operating system, it's because they are. Google is low-key and sly when rolling out new products and enhancements, being careful not to directly describe them as competitors to hardly anything. It's amusing to hear Google execs call products like this "things that customers want" - because it is so true. These services and products are also taking on some established services and products from well-known companies. The re-launch of iGoogle further illustrates this point, does it not?