Google leaks classified ad service

[redz]

from cnn
"SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Google Inc. has unintentionally provided a sneak peek at what appears to be a looming expansion into classified advertising -- a free service that might antagonize some of the Internet search engine's biggest customers, including online auctioneer eBay Inc.

Screen shots of the experimental service, dubbed "Google Base," appeared on several Web sites Tuesday shortly after the legions of people who dissect the online search engine leader's every move discovered a link to a page inviting people to list things like a used car for sale, a party planning service and current events.

Google confirmed the development of the service a few hours after taking down the link.

"We are testing new ways for content owners to easily send their content to Google," the Mountain View, California-based company said in a statement. "We're continually exploring new opportunities to expand our offerings, but we don't have anything to announce at this time."

By offering a forum that would enable people to sell goods and services without paying for the advertising, Google might hurt eBay -- a major buyer of the online ads that account for most of Google's profits.

EBay depends on the fees that it receives for helping to sell all kinds of products and services, including items that might be listed for free on Google Base. The San Jose, California-based company also owns a 25 percent stake in Craigslist, a popular site that offers free classified ads in more than 100 cities.

Google also has confirmed it's working on an online payment service, but CEO Eric Schmidt has said the service won't compete with eBay-owned PayPal.

Another free online classified ad service also would pose another financial threat to newspapers, which already have been squeezed in the cities where Craigslist provides free listings.

If a free Google listing service materializes, it could change the way many Web sites view the online search engine leader.

Through most of its seven-year existence, Google has depicted itself as a vehicle for delivering people to other destinations that contained a desired piece of information or product.

But during the past 18 months, Google has increasingly been adding more content and services that are turning its Web site into more of portal -- a sort of one-stop shop for information and commerce.

"As soon as you start competing with some of the people that you are indexing, it creates a completely different dynamic," said Craig Donato, chief executive of Oodle.com, a search engine that pools listings from dozens of classified advertising sites.

"Google can get away with a lot of stuff, but (Google Base) would certainly give people pause," he said.

Google's diversification has coincided with tougher competition from Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN -- two longtime portals that have been trying to build better search engines."
Dont know if this was posted, but hope it wasnt

 

[Jakey]

donate for something you pasted off cnn.com?

 

[redz]

woops sorry lol , i will edit that

 

[sm]

I guess such services shouldnt be launched on the google.com sub-domains... think about hello.com and picasa.com .... they're on an entirely different domain, and it makes perfect sense. If google wants to launch portal like services, or content based services, then it makes more sense for them to use a different domain.. else as the article points out, it does clash with their primary identity as a search engine company.

or better yet ...... tie up with existing portals or large content sites instead of trying to be another Yahoo (albeit in a cooler way).

 

[Hostnetric]

This could create a world of problems for Google with some of its advertisers, but maybe not. It is going to be one of those ventures that are going to be interesting to watch.

 

[sm]

thing is even if it does create a few problems for advertisers, where do they go ? YPN is okay, but adsense/adwords is more established and has better optimization tools ... plus the fact that lots of people actually take interest in the google brand and are more inclined to click on their ads .....

so in the end, the advertisers will have to stick with google (even if they advertise with others as well). Google is too big to ignore IMO.... why even yahoo advertises on google and so does MSN Search (quite heavily)

 

[Hostnetric]

thing is even if it does create a few problems for advertisers, where do they go ? YPN is okay, but adsense/adwords is more established and has better optimization tools ... plus the fact that lots of people actually take interest in google ads .....

so in the end, the advertisers will have to stick with google (even if they advertise with others as well).

You are right about this. Google does have a monopoly of sorts in this area that no one has really cracked.

Kevin

 

[Banned User]

Is there anyway to signup to beta Google Base yet?

I see http://base.google.com has a login for gmail holders but it goes nowhere.

 

[weblord]

Is there anyway to signup to beta Google Base yet?

I see http://base.google.com has a login for gmail holders but it goes nowhere.

login again and they will allow you to create ftp account
http://base.google.com/base/updateftp

for easy upload of your content in rss

 

[Ray]

way to nicropost

 

[MastMnds]

I hope they make a site to compete with paypal I dont like them one bit.

 

[RakeshRaja]

is google base for US only or any country is allowed?

i have posted my first item

 

[eyedomainous]

That most be a dated article. I've been on Google Base for a few months. I have listed domains for sale and several other items. I have had no sales yet but its FREE and when folks search for Domains for sale, on Google, my listing shows-up.

 

[WindowsBox]

Very interesting, I had not heard of it before but glad to see google came out with that. I see a lot of local sites with sort of the same thing lately, even have ads on tv, but I have yet to see if they are any good.