ON GOOGLE FINANCE, A GREAT VERSION 1.0

A HORSE RACE AGAIN

Well, we're into the first 24 hours of the long-awaited Google Finance Beta site, and Om Malik seems to speak for most with his post titled "Google Finance Disappoints".  The universal verdict off memeorandum seems to range between "Ho Hum" and "Nyah".

Most observers seem to be complaining that their pet features from other services are not yet in Google Finance.  Come on folks, this is the beta version 1.0.

As a long-time avid user of both Yahoo! Finance, and moderate user of Microsoft's MSN Money site, I thought I'd at least spend the day using Google Finance in a "real world" mode. 

And having done so, I find myself disagreeing with the consensus.  This service is really terrific out of the box, and offers some unique capabilities vs. the competition. 

They may seem subtle nuances at first glance, but make a big difference in everyday usability.

Here're my takeaways thus far:

1. The Ajax Flash-animated charts, as everyone has mentioned are miles ahead of anything out there.  It's not just eye-candy.  Being able to see daily prices with corresponding news events, on the fly across various time periods, is a very useful feature indeed.  It wasn't long ago that you had to pay hundreds of dollars a month on a "Wall Street" caliber terminal to get this kind of data and functionality.
2. One search box for tickers, symbols and other types of data is something one would expect off Google, and they boy, did they deliver.  I can't tell you how frustrating it is to have to pick different search boxes for symbols and tickers on the other services.  And have you noticed that when you type in words like "Russell 2000" it gives you not only the index, but the various ETF and mutual fund options?  Bravo, Google.
3. The one page Profile summaries on a given stock, public or private, are really well done.  As an example, type in "Six Apart", the private blogging company that's going gangbusters, and check out the page.  Reminds me of Valueline, for those old enough to have relied on that service a decade or so ago.  That service is still around and remains very useful, but it costs an arm and a leg.  That Google has added related blog posts on the page as well, is just icing on the cake.  Again, very nicely done.  (You can do this on Yahoo! Finance, but you need to click a separate "Finance Search" tab, and then type in the company name).
4. Non-partisanship in data sources is another good feature of the site.  That is to say, when Google doesn't have the data that a user might be looking for, like say, insider transactions, it refers to competing finance sites from Yahoo! and Microsoft.  You could say that this is borne of necessity, but I hope they keep that philosophy even as they fill out those types of features in-house.
5. Fast-loading Portfolio page is cool, especially compared to Yahoo! Finance.  However, here we really need the ability to have multiple, unlimited portfolios as Yahoo! Finance offers.  One just doesn't cut it...hope it's fixed in a future version.
6. Related Stocks and companies are highlighted on the bottom left of every query.  Again, a terrific and unique feature relative the competition.  Very useful to get a sense of an unfamiliar company, sector or industry in a quick and dirty way.

These are just some of the features that Wow me, and I'm sure there'll be more as I get more familiar with the site.

But what's the single best thing about Google Finance? 

Well, just like it did when it entered an existing product category like email and maps, it'll get the competitive juices going again amongst the dominant providers. 

The incumbents were getting complacent and their offerings a little long in the tooth.
A new kid on the block is great for all of us finance geeks.

Given some of the unique capabilities already out of the box, Google Finance has already become a "must-use" financial site for me, although very much in conjunction with Yahoo! Finance.

Welcome, Google Finance.  A terrific first effort.  

Comments

[Razib Ahmed]

It is still too early to give the verdict on Google Finance. I feel that if Google can show the same skill here like its search, then there is every possibility that it will shine

[pwb]

The charts are actually Flash. I'm actually not a Flash-hater, but I think it's the wrong tech here. Stock/company snap shots should be *fast*.

[Simon]

The Six Apart profile is from Hoovers Online. The same company that Yahoo uses for their company profiles.

[Dominic]

Hi ! Your site is very interesting. Thank you.