Google Base: Touch it

Google's mysterious Google Base service went live late on Tuesday, allowing people to post any kind of information they want for free and to provide labels to describe it so others can easily find it.

The new beta service allows people to post "all types of online and offline information and images" that will be searchable on Google Base and, depending on their relevance, may be searchable on Google Search, Froogle and Google Local, the company said.

The frequently asked questions section of the new service said: "If you have information you want to share with others but aren't sure how to go about gaining an audience, Google Base is for you."

Google has no immediate plans to serve ads on Google Base, a company spokesman said. Examples given of items people might want to post include party and event planning services, recipes, a used-car listing and the genome of the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Hal Higginbotham, president of CollegeBoard.com, as quoted on the Google Blog, said: "Students need as much information as possible when they are searching for the right college or university. Google Base helps us reach students and parents and deliver more of the information they need when making important college decisions."

While some observers have speculated Google is targeting the online classifieds market space with the service - specifically Craigslist and eBay - a Google executive denied that is the company's intent.

Marc Leibowitz, web search and syndication director, said Google merely wants to offer a way for people who have information to share that is not already on a website and being crawled by a search engine to open it up to the public. In addition, much of the information in Google Base is expected to be non-commercial information, a Google spokesman said.

After screen shots of Google Base were leaked on the web last month, the search giant confirmed it was testing a new service.

Elinor Mills writes for CNET News.com