Google today said it will introduce a personalized home page that integrates e-mail (Gmail), news, weather, movie listings, and other features. The move is yet another signal of Google's ascent into
portal territory. MSN, Yahoo!, and AOL offer users the ability to customize their home pages. It's also a sign that Google is looking for revenues beyond those from search-related advertising.
Google, like MSN, Yahoo!, and AOL, wants people to spend oodles of time using its services. The company has lately signaled its interest in attracting brand advertisers.
Google's
personalized home page is available in a test version at: http://labs.google.com
The company says it also plans to add RSS feeds to the personalized Google home page.