Google Base. It's Here

Recently I did an entry on Google Base and now Inman has announced that Google Base is now open for business.

According to Inman:

The product works somewhat similarly to craigslist, making it possible to quickly and easily create a free post that will appear online and can be located by searching specific terms, such as "real estate for sale."

"Google Base is a place where you can easily submit all types of online and offline content that we'll host and make searchable online," the company said on its Web site.

I have been examing the GUI and it is quite similar Craigslist. In fact it is alot easier to use than Craigslist in terms of listing products or services. Users are not required to submit an email address to list onto Google Base. However without that failsafe it seems Google Base is vulnerable to spammers and bait and switch artists.

However all the ads have an option for users to report spammers and other types of internet hooliganism.

You have the option of placing your own url or creating an ad and the ad can be of your own creation. Comparing to craigslist which is far more regimented. Google Base sets up basic parameters but users are pretty much free to do what they want.

Here is a rundown on Google Base.

Quick Facts about Google Base
Cost: Free
Item types accepted: All types of online and offline information and images
Languages: Google Base is currently available only in English.
Reach: Items you submit to Google Base can be found on Google Base and, depending on their relevance, may also appear on Google properties like Google, Froogle and Google Local.
How it's different: Google Base enables you to add attributes that better describe your content so that users can easily find it. The more popular specific attributes become, the more often we'll suggest them when others post the same items. Similarly, items that become more popular will show up as suggested item types in the Choose an existing item type drop down menu.

I suspect that that is the point. Google's objective is to create a community that are control of what direction they take with the ads.

I still maintain the position that when Google Base begins to gain popularity, it will be the bane for newspapers and brokers alike. The Google brand has far been a juggernaut and it doesn't look like it will be stopped anytime soon.