The high functionality together with the minimalist design made Google's home page one of the most popular among people who search the web. But at this point, Google staff thought it was about time to let users personalize the Google home page, with different features they prefer, from news to email.

The service is subscription based, currently available in beta at Google Labs.

If you have a Gmail or other Google accounts you can create a home page by using different modules you can drag-and-drop, such as: email, local weather (only in US for now), maps, movie schedules, headlines and traditional Web search.

This new personalized web page has already created a connection in some people's minds with other services from competitors like Yahoo, MSN or AOL. However, Marissa Mayer — Google's Web Products Director, said that this service is different from My Yahoo. We've seen that there were users who wanted more on their home page... and this is a way to give them more access to their information.

For the time being, Google is offering content from major sites like the BBC, The New York Times, Slashdot, Wired, the Quote of the Day and the Word of the Day. It also promisses the possibility to add RSS feed from news sites and blogs in the near future (within three months most likely).

According to ComScore Media Metrix Google comes fourth in number of unique visitors per month in US, after Yahoo, MSN and AOL.