Links - keywords of big men

What did the world's four IT giants do in 2006 and what to expect from them in 2007? BBC News reviews the ups and downs of IT companies that people are looking forward to.

Google

On the Internet, Google is synonymous with McDonalds - a brand that is deeply ingrained in our language and is present everywhere. 2006 was a busy year for Google as the 'giant' increased services, sparking rumors about names and alliances, most of which focused on Microsoft rivals.

In the beginning of the year, Google made a world-wide IT village when it announced it would censor search engines in China. That decision made their fans feel like their 'idols' betrayed the motto of 'not doing bad things', while many also praised the effort to confront the Chinese government. , and Google's insistence when the company informs users about their search results being censored.

On the product front, 2006 was a busy year as usual, with the launch of a range of products, notably Google Calendar, a network-based payment system and a news storage system.

Nate Elliott, a leading analyst at Jupiter Research Institute, doesn't think that Google's constant launch of new products is the best way to develop. " I think Google launches products in a broad-based approach. It seems they publish any service they feel comfortable regardless of whether it is commercially viable. In fact, the product is Their outstanding work is the search engine '.

Elliott argued that a "more direct product strategy" was needed in Google's priority development steps in 20007, but he did not dare to predict which product. Elliott added: ' They make us constantly surprised, so I dare not predict anything, just wait for their creativity '.

Perhaps the most noticeable development of the world's most popular search engine company this year is not related to their "nail products". The deal with MySpace last summer helped Google provide a search engine and this network share ads cost $ 900 million.

Later the acquisition of YouTube at the end of the year showed Google's determination in the area of ​​user-provided content development. The move made Google shares climb to its highest level last time for $ 500 per share.

Yahoo

One way or another, most of the articles written about Yahoo mention that the company is "struggling to compete with Google." That struggle reflected in Yahoo's stock price drop.

John Delaney, an analyst at research firm Ovum, believes the war on newspapers between Yahoo and Google will deepen Yohoo's position as an online veteran.

John said: " Yahoo cannot be underestimated. It has a long-standing user group, unlike Google, that is willing to pay for the services they have. And unlike Google, Yahoo. relying too much on a single product . 'In order to stop the recession, Yahoo's homepage in May has made significant improvements, and is still in the process of rebuilding its structure.

Despite criticism that they are too slow to improve compared to rivals Google, Yahoo unveiled a number of new services, including Yahoo Go earlier this year.

Shake hands with Microsoft

Like Google, Yahoo is also looking for 'a friend' related to virtual social networking, but speculation that they are about to buy Facebook - a website that allows students to communicate with each other - does not bring one. specific results.

However, this year Yahoo also befriended other friends, in a number of big deals with eBay, under which Yahoo has the right to use PayPal for Yahoo's services and an agreement with Microsoft to allow users. Yahoo's messaging service can talk to Microsoft system users. For Delaney, that handshake is the most important part of Yahoo's 2006 strategy. " That makes the number of people using messaging services increase rapidly ."

According to Delaney, the Internet messaging service, unlike Google's search engine, will be very difficult for users to leave easily. He said: ' With the search tool, users can switch to another system if that service is better. As for Yahoo Messenger service, it's hard to leave, because there's a long list of friends there, and even a new address . '