Thursday, November 17, 2005

Thurs - Google launches web listings service

Google has now launched Google Base, a new web site that allows users to post information such as classified advertisments, job listings and recipes in a move that put's it in direct competition with Ebay, online job sites and Yellow Pages directories.

Google Base at lets internet users submit information about a wide range of personal items, free of charge, to a publicly searchable database maintained by Google.

The current version is in beta testing, but can be used to search for almost anything. Current search examples on the site included classified ads for cars, academic courses and Indian recipes.

As Google diversifies away from its core search engine, it finds itself increasingly in competition with Ebay, which has invested heavily in its own search function.

It's well worth trying out. And its easy to use. The question with such a broad listing service as this is which categories of products and services will benefit from the free listing. At this point no-one knows. You'll just have to try it out and see. But, it's another smart move by Google.

Google said that the site has been designed for people who have information they want to share with others but do not know how to gain an audience. Google will host the content but allow the user to add labels with more specific information to attract attention. If the item is highly relevent, Google said it may be included in its main searches or on Froogle or Google Local. Let's see. We'll keep monitoring.

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