Forrester Research

Google Inc. (GOOG) co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin say they don't pay much attention to rivals. But the search company increasingly appears to be following Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) lead.The latest example involves cable ties, AC-DC adapters, radiation detectors and the like. In April of last year, Amazon rolled out AmazonSupply, an e-commerce site featuring such industrial goods. Google followed suit this January, testing Google Shopping for Suppliers, which also helps shoppers find items tailored for businesses.Both sites represent a relatively new foray for the technology companies--business-to-business sales--though Google's doesn't sell the items directly and its service is limited to suppliers of certain types of electrical equipment.Industrial goods isn't the only arena in which the Mountain View, Calif., Internet-search company has followed Amazon recently. In the past year alone, Google has started at least three other services that take aim at Amazon operations, includi...

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