Mountain
View, USA: Google has launched a beta version of Google
Base on Wednesday. The tool will allow users to upload
all kinds of content to Google's servers.
It
is an extension of Google's existing content-collection
efforts, with a goal of broadening Google search results,
according to Salar Kamangar, vice president of product
management.
"We
think of it as an extension of the ways we have for collecting
information," he said. "The prior method was
one where we pulled information from the Web crawl, and
that will continue to be our primary method. But we're
experimenting with methods of pushing information ...
where people can create content and push it to us."
Google
Base lets users describe the content to be uploaded and
assign attribute tags. When someone searches Google Base,
each result will include a list of attributes to help
the searcher hone in on the more relevant result.
To
seed the database, Google worked with several information
providers, including ArtNet, an online directory and marketplace
for art; Career Builder, a job listings site; CollegeBoard.org,
a membership organization that hosts college-planning
resources; StepUp, a company that lets people search product
lists of local retailers; and the World Resources Institute,
an environmental think tank that uploaded links to data
on sustainability issues.
The
company said Google Base demonstrates its efforts to make
more types of information discoverable online.
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