After months of rumors, speculation, and guesswork, search giant Google has unveiled Google Base, its much-rumored listings service that many people believe is meant to compete against auction and listings sites like eBay or Craigslist.
Google Base is based on submissions from Google users, which Google then organizes and opens up for searching, for free. In a Weblog posting Wednesday, Google said it expects content from individuals and small Web site owners plus larger organizations uploading lots of listings.
With each incremental tip of its hand, it's becoming increasingly clear that Google is creating a service meant to mirror that of any retail Web site, where it could generate revenues by placing advertisements at various stages of the process. Analysts repeatedly say Google's user base, which is in the hundreds of millions of users, would be an instant challenge to eBay, the auction pioneer, or more community-focused sites like Craigslist that pioneered the user-generated listings service that Google Base, in a way, is a mirror copy.
Screen shots of "Google Base," now available on the Google Base website explain that the service-to-be is a database consisting of "your content" that's free to contribute. Items in the database include a party invite or a "listing of your used car for sale." There is also a tie-in mentioned to Google's comparison shopping site Froogle, and Google Local, the combination Google mapping and localized search results.
There is still much that is unclear about it, but if it's listings are free (compared to eBay which is not free), then they have the possibility of being a major success. If much of what I have written seems a little vague, it is because it is so new and I am just learning about it myself. If you would like to know more I suggest you head over to base.google.com and see for yourself. I may do something with Google Base myself and I will let you know what happens.
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