There has been a lot of talk in the industry lately about the rising fortunes of Google and the declining stature of Yahoo. The latter is certainly still a great company but the momentum is with Google.

For yet another example of why this is so, visit http://finance.google.ca/finance.

Just launched, Google Finance Canada lets users look up the financial details of a public or private company using its name—or a ticker symbol—and access information including market data, news, financials, interactive charts, blog posts and discussion groups.  

All of this information was available before and Google did not invent the financial portal, but by adding its own special sauce the company has done the idea better than others.

For example, the financial charts integrate news stories and users can click through different time periods.

Google is rapidly becoming the only Internet company most people need.

Peter Wolchak