Comments on: The problem with portals http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/ by Jeff Jarvis Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:46:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: sean coon http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-96301 sean coon Mon, 24 Jul 2006 14:32:00 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-96301 <blockquote>"The problem with portals is that they aren’t portals at all. The windows are nailed shut. They’re traps. They want to lure you in and then not let you leave."</blockquote> who's the "you" you're referring to, jeff? me (an early adopter on crack) or my mother? my mom is a loyal user of myyahoo! and has made it a part of her daily routine. she religiously logs on each morning for the inbox module, the weather and my latest blog post. that's usually it. sometimes she clicks-through to a news item that catches her eye, but 90% of the time, she's there for email, weather and keeping tabs on me. i'd bet that the *majority* of unique visitors to myyahoo! are more like my mother than they are you and me, so why the drama? to this web user, a myyahoo! type experience is the one-stop shopping they need/want, because the web is just another tool in their life. my needs are different, more diverse and intense, so it's not how i receive my information, but i'd bet good money that i don't fit the mold of yahoo!'s primary design persona for the portal, either. for all the great things google has done, and the wealth of opportunities they've created with their smart moves in the advertising space, the interesting part of watching yahoo! grow over the past ten years is that they can and do cater to numerous user archetypes, with numerous needs, desires, intent, etc., either through in-house innovation or M&A's. portals fill a specific need. why do you think google added their portal homepage?

“The problem with portals is that they aren’t portals at all. The windows are nailed shut. They’re traps. They want to lure you in and then not let you leave.”

who’s the “you” you’re referring to, jeff? me (an early adopter on crack) or my mother?

my mom is a loyal user of myyahoo! and has made it a part of her daily routine. she religiously logs on each morning for the inbox module, the weather and my latest blog post. that’s usually it. sometimes she clicks-through to a news item that catches her eye, but 90% of the time, she’s there for email, weather and keeping tabs on me.

i’d bet that the *majority* of unique visitors to myyahoo! are more like my mother than they are you and me, so why the drama? to this web user, a myyahoo! type experience is the one-stop shopping they need/want, because the web is just another tool in their life. my needs are different, more diverse and intense, so it’s not how i receive my information, but i’d bet good money that i don’t fit the mold of yahoo!’s primary design persona for the portal, either.

for all the great things google has done, and the wealth of opportunities they’ve created with their smart moves in the advertising space, the interesting part of watching yahoo! grow over the past ten years is that they can and do cater to numerous user archetypes, with numerous needs, desires, intent, etc., either through in-house innovation or M&A’s.

portals fill a specific need. why do you think google added their portal homepage?

]]> By: Alex http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-95853 Alex Sun, 23 Jul 2006 15:43:19 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-95853 If Yahoo! is the last old media company, then so are millions of content-driven Web sites, which also attract viewers and try to keep them on the site. Amazon is pretty old-media, I suppose, since most of the links on the page are to other Amazon products. People somehow like to get abstract and forget key facts about the Internet industry: 1) Yahoo! is still Web's #1 destination. 2) Traffic to Yahoo! is growing, not falling, month to month. 3) While Google maintains its lead in search, and is actually increasing it quarter to quarter, search is just one of the Internet activities out there. If Yahoo! is the last old media company, then so are millions of content-driven Web sites, which also attract viewers and try to keep them on the site. Amazon is pretty old-media, I suppose, since most of the links on the page are to other Amazon products. People somehow like to get abstract and forget key facts about the Internet industry:
1) Yahoo! is still Web’s #1 destination.
2) Traffic to Yahoo! is growing, not falling, month to month.
3) While Google maintains its lead in search, and is actually increasing it quarter to quarter, search is just one of the Internet activities out there.

]]> By: face-beauty.net Blog » BUZZ BEFORE BEAUTY http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-95827 face-beauty.net Blog » BUZZ BEFORE BEAUTY Sun, 23 Jul 2006 15:13:46 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-95827 [...] Jeff Jarvis: The problem with portals is that they aren’t portals at all. The windows are nailed shut. They’re traps. They want to lure you in and then not let you leave. face-beauty.net buzz links: The Problem With Portals [...] [...] Jeff Jarvis: The problem with portals is that they aren’t portals at all. The windows are nailed shut. They’re traps. They want to lure you in and then not let you leave. face-beauty.net buzz links: The Problem With Portals [...]

]]> By: Sending Traffic Away or Keeping Traffic On Site? http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-95687 Sending Traffic Away or Keeping Traffic On Site? Sun, 23 Jul 2006 06:58:32 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-95687 [...] Kevin at LexBlog has a post that has got me thinking. It’s called Best blogs send audience away. In it he refers to a post by Jeff Jarvis which talks about portals and how they try to lure you in to them and keep you there as opposed to what Google is doing (get you in and out as quickly as possible). [...] [...] Kevin at LexBlog has a post that has got me thinking. It’s called Best blogs send audience away. In it he refers to a post by Jeff Jarvis which talks about portals and how they try to lure you in to them and keep you there as opposed to what Google is doing (get you in and out as quickly as possible). [...]

]]> By: Jimmy http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-95472 Jimmy Sat, 22 Jul 2006 20:52:01 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-95472 Whenever I read on of your Yahoo-is-dying stories -- of which there are many, for some reason -- I just shake my head. Yahoo gets more unique visits and page views than Google and is constantly ranked as the number sight by those who track that. So, they must be doing something right (of course, as an avid Yahoo user and rare user of Google, I'm biased). Will that remain the same? Of course not. Google is catching up and will most likely surpass them. Does that mean their the last of their kind? Considering the number of portals ranking in the top of the most-visited web sites I doubt it. Yahoo's biggest problem, I think, is a lack of originality and its lack of fright by what Google has been able to accomplish. Google has already whipped Yahoo's butt in the advertising area, the sad fact is Yahoo allowed it to happed. They could easily compete with Google, maybe not surpass but compete, if they could get their act together. The first thing they need to do is get rid of Semel; he has no vision. Hell, you have all the answers. Maybe they should hire you. Just kidding. :) Google is a young, nimble company (although it is beginning to take on some less than pleasant corporate qualities); Yahoo is the grandfather of them all and desperately needs an injection of new blood. Whenever I read on of your Yahoo-is-dying stories — of which there are many, for some reason — I just shake my head. Yahoo gets more unique visits and page views than Google and is constantly ranked as the number sight by those who track that. So, they must be doing something right (of course, as an avid Yahoo user and rare user of Google, I’m biased). Will that remain the same? Of course not. Google is catching up and will most likely surpass them. Does that mean their the last of their kind? Considering the number of portals ranking in the top of the most-visited web sites I doubt it. Yahoo’s biggest problem, I think, is a lack of originality and its lack of fright by what Google has been able to accomplish. Google has already whipped Yahoo’s butt in the advertising area, the sad fact is Yahoo allowed it to happed. They could easily compete with Google, maybe not surpass but compete, if they could get their act together. The first thing they need to do is get rid of Semel; he has no vision. Hell, you have all the answers. Maybe they should hire you. Just kidding. :) Google is a young, nimble company (although it is beginning to take on some less than pleasant corporate qualities); Yahoo is the grandfather of them all and desperately needs an injection of new blood.

]]> By: BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Who’s afraid of the big, bad GOOG http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-95453 BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Who’s afraid of the big, bad GOOG Sat, 22 Jul 2006 20:02:11 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/07/22/the-problem-with-portals/#comment-95453 [...] « The problem with portals [...] [...] « The problem with portals [...]

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