Google Offers Personalized Homepage

Google aficionados can look no further than Google itself for their own personalized homepage. As part of its 'fusion' initiative, Google has begun to corral its many Web services together into a streamlined portal site.

Users may begin to create their homepage by visiting the Google Labs Web site and selecting the option to "Personalize Your Homepage." Homepages are filled with modules of content such as previews of new Gmail messages, Google Maps, news and entertainment headlines and other available feeds.

The page layout can be reordered by clicking and dragging sections into new arrangements.

"The personalized homepage is a complement to the existing Google homepage - not a replacement," said Marissa Mayer, Director of Consumer Web Products. "Keep using the original Google homepage if you want to. (We expect many people will.) But if you're keen to organize and customize your information, take a stab at designing your own homepage."

Google competitor Yahoo offers a similar personalized homepage called My Yahoo! And A9 is fielding a beta Web site with personalized search tools.