Google has a "Base" Now

Google has unveiled another beta, Google Base and it has much more than just classified listings, posing a serious threat to online classified services like Craiglist and Ebay. The service isn't limited to classified listings, rather, it allows users to post any sort of information--recipes, course curricula, people profiles, reference articles, and reviews are all mentioned on the company blog as possible database entries.

The first glimpses of the service came last month, but the roll out late on Tuesday of Google Base in "beta" or trial now allows anyone with Internet access to upload information that will be searchable by Google.

Analysts view the service as having the potential to grow into a huge forum for classified ads. But Google executive Marc Leibowitz said Google merely wants to serve people who have information to share that is not already on a website and being crawled by a search engine to open it up to the public.

"This is all part of our efforts to make it really easy for anyone with information to make it accessible from Google," said Salar Kamangar, vice president of product management at Google. "We just felt like this piece was just missing before."

What's less clear is exactly what Google plans to do with what it amasses. The Mountain View-based company said the primary purpose of Google Base's release is to study and improve how the information is collected and categorized.

Kamangar said the company eventually wants to integrate the results with results from its main search engine, its local search site, which identifies results by geographical location, and its shopping comparison service, Froogle.com.

As it stands, Google Base has no mechanism for transacting business, whether buying a car or applying for a job. But its patrons -- a job listings service, say - will be able to provide links in whatever they upload to commercial sites that do.

Experts point out that the new service's potential to challenge classified listings or auction leaders depends on its gaining critical mass.