Google shows us the money

Google on Tuesday released a beta version of a new finance portal that includes information about public and private companies and mutual funds, along with features like an interactive stock chart.

The site, created by Google engineers in India, will take on competitors including Yahoo and Marketwatch, which have been offering stock quotes, financial news and message boards for years--and which have built up loyal followings.

Google had been offering stock quotes through the search bar, but had been referring users to its search results for more data. Now Google Finance will appear at the top of search listings when a user types in a ticker symbol. The site will also have a groups section with paid moderators.

Bloggers were not immediately overwhelmed, noting that it's not that different from sites that are already out there.

Blog community response:

"It brings up the question - is Google in the pure unadulterated we don't mess with your results at all we're totally objective search business, or....is it in the Yahoo business of being a content company?"
--John Battelle's Searchblog

"Given how entrenched Yahoo Finance is in people's lives, Google cannot be incrementally better. A couple of ajax widgets will not make me switch from Yahoo Finance to Google Finance. Despite the beta-tag, I find Google Finance downright tiresome and plain ugly."
--Om Malik's Blog

"Overall then, GFinance is clean and nice, but it definitely leaves me wanting more. This feels more like a Macromedia product demo -- long on whizz, short on bang -- than a data-drenched Google product."
--Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed