Re: Google Base: All your base are, in fact, belong to us
tronic5572@yahoo.co.uk said: > > I couldn't help but make a joke with the title, because it's seemingly > right on the money. You see, Google is getting ready to take the wraps > off of a new service called Google Base. If it can be posted online, it > would appear that they would, in fact, prefer it belong to them. At > least, they'll store it for you and make it searchable. > > "Yahoo: What you say?" > > Rumors surrounding this service have been spreading over the past few > days, and a handful of people have managed to catch the site when it's > up (it's currently down). It is not known when Google will officially > launch the service, although they are holding a special invitation-only > event today. Here's the text off of the front page of the site: > > Google Base is Google's database into which you can add all types of > content. We'll host your content and make it searchable online for > free. > > Examples of items you can find in Google Base: > > =B7 Description of your party planning service > =B7 Articles on current events from your website > =B7 Listing of your used car for sale > =B7 Database of protein structures > > You can describe any item you post with attributes, which will help > people find it when they search Google Base. In fact, based on the > relevance of your items, they may also be included in the main Google > search index and other Google products like Froogle and Google Local. > > Just what does Google have in mind? The last sentence there really > speaks to what they're after: eBay, Craigslist, and classified ads. > Users will be able upload all kinds of items for sale, and you'll be > able to geo-locate them, compare them, and search them via Google. > Think about it. When using eBay or Craigslist, how often do you think > "I wish I could search this with Google"? Recall, too, that Google has > a payments service in the works. > > If we grant that, then let's think about the next level: a Google Base > API of sorts. If Google remains the middle man, it's great for Google. > Ergo, an API that would allow other sites to use Google Base could > really generate a great deal of traffic. > > There's another level to this as well. By letting people post nearly > anything, Google will get their hands on a massive database of items > that have been given user-created attributes. Google then can use that > data to try and generate a kind of universal tagging schema for > information and items, which could then be used to classify information > across the net. Far fetched? Google is already trying to do that with > information layout via Google Site Maps. > > Google has briefly commented on Google Base in a statement: > > "This is an early-stage test of a product that enables content owners > to easily send their content to Google. Like our web crawl and the > recently released Google Sitemaps program, we are working to provide > content owners an easy way to give us access to their content. We're > continually exploring new opportunities to expand our offerings, but we > don't have anything to announce at this time." > > So the waiting, and the speculation, begins. > > There's not much more to see right now, but Wouter Schut managed not > only to see the service live (I saw the front page, but that's it), but > he ventured in and took additional screenshots. Have you tried UPDATE STATISTICS? -- Bye now, Obnoxio "C'est pas parce qu'on n'a rien ` dire qu'il faut fermer sa gueule" - Coluche "You are an index and a prologue to the history of lust and foul thoughts." - William Shakespeare sending to informix-list