Google Base

After Google's testing site "Google Base" was launched and quickly taken off last month, there are many speculations about Google's intention to get into online classified advertising business.

Today, Google Base (http://base.google.com) is officially live! This marks another step of Google’s ambition to organize the world information on the web.

According to today’s Mercury News, Google intends to source the information on Google Base to its various services. For example, product listings might appear on the Froogle shopping service, while restaurant listings might end up at Google Local.

This is particularly a good news for the social venture I am leading – to empower un-served micro-entrepreneurs by providing access to online markets through mobile phones.

I hope Google Base, coupled with “Google Automat” – a patent recently filed by Google that lets people to create simple ads with complementary page of full listing, will benefit not only the people who have computer and Internet access but also millions who left behind by “digital divide.”