From sending solar-powered balloons into the stratosphere to offering free wifi in parks, Google is quietly spending hundreds of millions of dollars on nascent internet services that may one day challenge the telecom and cable companies.

Two Limerick brothers who became millionaires while still at school have seen their newest venture, Stripe, valued at €75 million.

Stiff competition, a lack of direction and falling profits pose major questions about whether Yahoo has a future, John Hearne reports