Google and Yahoo



Google and Yahoo

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to expand the boundaries of our knowledge by exploring some relevant facts and figures related to Google and Yahoo. In this paper, the author will find the mission statement of each of the two companies and prepare a short comparison. In addition, the author will also comment on the quality of each mission statement based on the author's learning about mission statements. The author will also examine the aspect of corporate social responsibility in the two companies, together with the SWOT analysis of Google and Yahoo.

Discussion & Analysis

Google

Google is an Internet search company founded in 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who met while they were graduate students in computer science at Stanford University. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Google has become widely recognized as the world's largest search engine. Operating in more than 150 countries and 100 languages, Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Through its proprietary PageRank technology, which ranks webpages according to their relevance to any given search query, Google allows users to find information online at no charge. As the presence of online content related to religion has increased dramatically over the past decade, with millions of webpages devoted to religious content, Google enables users around the globe to find sites relevant to their queries (Helft, 2010).

Searching the Internet is Google's primary utility, but Google offers users free communication and publication services as well, such as Gmail (Google's e-mail service), Blogger (a weblog publishing tool), and Google Book Search (a project to provide access to digitized print material). Thus, Google assists in both the dissemination and collection of religious content online. The easy accessibility of information online can undermine the authority structures of religions, especially those of new religious movements, which lack the deeper plausibility structures of the more established religions. On the other hand, web publishing tools such as Google's Blogger can assist in the proliferation of religious messages and the construction of religious identities. The Internet's international reach also increases the visibility of religions across the globe and can help sustain transnational diaspora communities (Vise, 2005).

Google has also been the subject of criticism for its advertising policies and for displaying pornography in its search results, although it does provide a default “safe search” to block pornography. Google generates income by serving ads alongside search results, and its policies are regarded as idiosyncratic by some. For example, Google refused to host antiabortion ads from Christian advocacy groups until it faced court action and was forced to revise its position. In general, Google tries to abide by local laws and customs (Mills, 2007).

Yahoo

Yahoo! Inc. is a global Internet communications, commerce, and media company with headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, and offices in Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia, and Canada. The services offered by Yahoo! include Corporate Yahoo!, a popular customized enterprise portal solution; audio and video streaming; store hosting and management; and Website tools and ...