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Why the frenzy of end-of-year redesigns at Google? Last week we noticed that Google was launching a new sidebar with Video and Products results. This evening, Google changed the "Products" button on its home page and search result pages to "Shopping."

Originally called Froogle, a pun on "frugal," Google Product Search has never really gotten the attention it deserved. It could have posed a threat to eBay or Amazon.com, especially when combined with Google Checkout, but it never really caught on. Additionally, for anyone who has ever used it, it's certainly not the best product finder out there. I much prefer Amazon, with its huge collection of third-party merchants, for my shopping needs.

Regardless, we're in the thick of the holiday shopping season and many, many buyers are turning to the Internet to find gifts without braving the mall. I'm buying all my gifts on Amazon. I have spent two to three times more at Amazon.com this year because of free two-day shipping from Amazon Prime. Larry and Sergey, when you give me something as awesome as that in Google Shopping, you'll have a convert. Until then, Jeff Bezos gets my hard-earned bucks.