Webwag Takes on Netvibes and Pageflakes

Webwag, another new ajax startpage, has announced its US version. The French company, founded by successful businessman Franck Poisson, joins Netvibes and Pageflakes - making for a trio of European start pages. Webwag has opened headquarters in Palo Alto, but the R&D will remain in France. The site got downed by heavy traffic from Digg earlier today, but seems to be stabilizing now.

Webwag’s layout is nice - very minimalistic with plenty of ajaxy drag-and-drop elements. It’s very similar to Netvibes, but they’ve prettied it up with some fades and rounded corners. By default, it includes YouTube videos, iTunes tracks, Google search, weather, your email and the latest news from Digg. You can also create new tabs and spawn as many modules as you like. Most importantly: the vast majority of the features are available without signing up - like Netvibes and Pageflakes, it seems to drop a cookie in your browser and remembers your layout when you return. Another neat feature: registered users can change the Webwag logo into a title for their page. There are a bunch of hidden features, too - for instance, clicking the logo pulls up the feed directory (Webwag guys: you have the wrong Mashable feed!).

This week the company launched the Webwag toolbar - they’re the first startpage to do so. This allows you to go straight to Webwag, bookmark sites to appear on your Webwag page, create a new Webwag widget for any site, export your browser bookmarks to Webwag and adjust your account settings. They released an API this week, too, and they’re inviting developers to get involved. The company plans to make money through affiliate marketing, B2B deals (perhaps white label versions) and through the search bar on your Webwag page.

Webwag is a solid attempt, but they’re entering a crowded market - Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others have their own versions, while Netvibes, Pageflakes and Protopage are among the few successful independents. Of course, it all comes down to execution in the end - it’s remarkable that the independents have done so well when faced with competition from some of the web’s biggest companies.

by Pete Cashmore