> THAT'S how you explain the differences in how their businesses fared - by the density of their UI?
Well it's a silly statement to make of course, BUT there is some truth behind it. Their search pages are a microcosm of their approaches to business. In 1999, the search page was THE reason Google was able to make traction. And you can still see the influence of that minimal design in their stuff today. It's kinda their thing.
Yahoo! could have copied them. When they felt Google breathing down their neck that would have been the obvious thing to do (or preferably, way before it got that far). But to this very day they are stuck in their old ways! Amazing.
Well it's a silly statement to make of course, BUT there is some truth behind it. Their search pages are a microcosm of their approaches to business. In 1999, the search page was THE reason Google was able to make traction. And you can still see the influence of that minimal design in their stuff today. It's kinda their thing.
Yahoo! could have copied them. When they felt Google breathing down their neck that would have been the obvious thing to do (or preferably, way before it got that far). But to this very day they are stuck in their old ways! Amazing.