Google Base

Google Base is the latest from Google! While the word was floating around the web about the subdomain base.google.com, I wasn't able to have a look at it as Google had pulled it down showing a 403 Forbidden Error. However, just trying randomly, I could get a peek when the site went live momentarily.

The moment I keyed in the URL http://base.google.com, I was greeted by a weird looking screen that asked me to sign in with a Google Account. The screen however was restored to normality with me signing into my Gmail account.

What Google Base does is however not amply clear from what is there on the homepage. The FAQ page is still not up showing an "Oops...We didn't understand that. You have tried to access a non-existent page.” " message. The desciption from the Google Base homepage reads:

Post your items on Google.

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:

	•	Description of your party planning service
	•	Articles on current events from your website
	•	Listing of your used car for sale
	•	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.

I tried to post something on Google Base but the got the following error:

For input string: "-5.5"
Error 500

Also, none of the links on the page about Privacy policy, Terms of service, Program policies, and Frequently asked questions (FAQ) worked. All these links currently link to non-existent pages.

I can't wait to see what actually this is all about. There are already speculations about it from being a potential rival to eBay and Craiglist, to Google creating a new GoogleSQL. The earlier one seems more probable. Lets see...

Update:

Google's response at Official Google Blog

You may have seen stories today reporting on a new product that we're testing, and speculating about our plans. Here's what's really going on. We are testing a new way for content owners to submit their content to Google, which we hope will complement existing methods such as our web crawl and Google Sitemaps. We think it's an exciting product, and we'll let you know when there's more news.

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