Feature creep
Although Google says it's not preparing to offer standard portal services such as free email, it is steadily adding features. The company in recent weeks launched a test, or "beta," of its service to translate Web pages that are written in five foreign languages: Spanish, German, French, Italian and Portuguese. Google intends to expand the number of languages; the site also plans to offer translations from English into foreign tongues.Portal site AltaVista has been offering this service for some time - in the same five languages introduced in the Google beta. Portal contender Lycos also offers translation services.
Google recently introduced white pages directory capabilities into its search engine, and, with the acquisition of parts of Deja.com, newsgroup search functionality.
The white pages information is accessible by typing in a person's name followed by a city, state abbreviation, postcode, or area code. Reverse look-ups are possible by typing in a phone number.
Google is still in the process of implementing its newsgroup-reading service. As it stands, its version of the former Deja.com doesn't let people post messages, and it does not provide access to a five-year archive that Google acquired with the Deja.com purchase.
When finished, Google says the service will let people fine tune their newsgroup search results, organizing them by the date they were posted, message ID or relevance to the search term. All the remaining newsgroup features should be turned on in coming weeks, according to the company.
For its mapping results, Google now links to maps from both Yahoo and MapBlast when visitors search on specific addresses.
Flushed with cash
In another sign of its momentum, outgoing Novell Chief Executive Eric Schmidt last month made an undisclosed investment in the company and joined its board of directors as chairman, replacing co-founder Sergey Brin, who remains as president.
A privately held company backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Yahoo investor Sequoia Capital, Google does not break out its finances. But a company representative said its revenues are roughly split between licensing fees and advertising generated from its site. The company does not sell banner ads on it site, but it offers featured search placements for a fee through its AdWords service.
Lancaster said Google may see significant growth in its licensing revenues, which he said may be have been sold in the early stages at a discount to boost its market share. But advertising could also remain a lucrative business. About half of all Google searches take place on its own Web site, according to the company, giving it plenty of incentive to offer its own features that would attract visitors.
Spokesman David Krane said the company expects to turn a profit by the end of the year. He said Google has no immediate plans for an initial public offering.
Still, the company shows no signs of slowing its push to add features and functionality; it also is hiring software engineers to write Web-based applications.
Google's Kordestani describes these applications as "something more like the toolbar we introduced, focused on search and navigation. There are all kinds of ways we could enhance that over time."
As for adding communications applications such as email and instant messaging, Kordestani flatly ruled it out.
"Our strength comes from search," he said. "Portals are successful at that business, and it's not one we can add much value to."
