Google has gone live with its Google Base service, which could compete directly against Yellow Pages or localised classified advertising sites like Exchange & Mart or Loot in the UK.

According to the search engine “Google Base is a place where you can add all types of information that we'll host and make searchable online”.

The company goes on to say “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. 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, Google Base and Google Local”.

The aim is that if you have information you want to share with others, but aren't sure how to go about gaining an audience then Google base is supposedly for you. Users of the service will be able to create pages to list without the need for a website and make it visible to anyone who searches for your item's unique web address or to anyone who finds it while searching for related topics.

The site is already heavily populated with people offering recipes for cooking to cars for sale.

The move means that Google will be able to challenge services like Yellow Pages for company listings and using the localised capabilities of the service means that users would be able to target other users in the local area rather than a global marketplace.

More information can be found at http://base.google.com

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