So, it seems like Yahoo's wanting to push the green angle. Nothing sensational there as it's hardly the first big corporation to do so, but the campaigns it's running are worth a mention.

The first, Yahoo! Green, aims to be a climate change portal. It includes not only information and news regarding climate change, but also a pretty cool Take Action page.

Here users can customise their own carbon emission reduction plan by dragging and dropping a variety of CO2 lowering activities onto their personalised courses of action. The site then calculates and displays how much carbon the user's plan will save.

The second campaign, Be a Better Planet, is a competition aiming to reward the most eco-friendly city in the States. By performing a number of carbon saving activities users earn their city a number of “carbon credits.”

For every 500 credits earned by a user for his city he will be mailed a compact fluorescent light bulb, with the leading city winning a fleet of hybrid taxis. Alternatively the mayor of the winning city can elect for an eco-friendly organisation of his choice to receive a $250,000 donation from Yahoo!.

The procedure for this campaign is in itself a pretty clever process. Firstly users are required to sign up to the Be a Better Planet site. Additional “green credits” are then earned by registering with Yahoo! Green and selecting the activities that you will undertake in order to reduce carbon emissions.

Then for every submitted response picked as a “best answer” on Yahoo! Answers users will be further remunerated, with answers in the environmental category earning substantially more points. The final way to earn credits is to search for specific eco-friendly terms on oneSearch, Yahoo's Internet search system developed for mobile phones.

Considering where Yahoo currently finds itself in relation to Google this might not be a bad move at all. Using an eco-friendly slant that will improve its image in order to cross-sell a couple of its services is pretty clever. Google has developed something of a bad reputation in certain circles and the eco-friendly angle might very well provide Yahoo with the upper ground in this particular terrain.

Coupled with Vinny's recent post about how the company seems to be on a good path these campaigns make me feel that Yahoo is in the process of becoming a much more complete brand than ever before.

Google certainly isn't without its fair share of positive exposure in recent times. Articles looking inside the Google offices and at the lives of its employees have been making their way into our own lives recently. Seeing the productive chaos and the laid back attitude inside of Google makes it a much more endearing brand for its consumers.

However, how much longer will this marketing tactic work for the search engine giant? The image is in danger of becoming a cliche, and might not hold water for much longer. Virtually every large tech firm to some extent promotes the image of its laid back geniuses and the benevolent and understanding management that gives them enough freedom to express their individuality and allows their brilliance to shine.

I'm not saying that this is a bad image to portray. In fact, in many cases it may be a necessity. But I don't feel that this is enough of a differentiating factor for Google anymore. Yahoo on the other hand is utilising the very accessible image of a brand that cares about the environment. What's more, it's not limiting this to any one of its services, but rather is using eco-friendliness as a welcoming mat that invites users to explore the brand.

I'm sure that Google has other marketing angles in play at the moment, and I wouldn't say that what I've written above even begins to scratch the surface of either brand's marketing efforts. But what I do know is that Yahoo's efforts have filtered down to me, and due to the exposure that I've had to its green campaigns I'm currently much more excited about the impact that it's going to have on our lives than I am about Google.

Eco-friendliness is something that's getting a lot of attention at the moment and that all the large brands are having to deal with. But when a brand with thousands of employees proclaims that it will be carbon neutral by the end of 2007, you know it's taking its efforts seriously.