Search is a 2-Way Street: “Google Base” Breaks Posting Barrier

I know it’s starting to look like I’m a bit obsessed with Google. Maybe so. But, I also think that I know a true innovator when I see one. This time I salute Google for creating a new kind of interactivity via Google Base. This new service enables anyone (meaning folks without the slightest technical ability) to publish content, from recipes to want ads, you name it, for free. And, of course, because they are Google, they are making all of this new, easy-to-post content searchable, or as they describe it, Google Base is “a place where you can add all types of information that we’ll host and make searchable online.” Thus, now, anyone anywhere can add content to the global information database without needing to know how to post to a blog or how to build a web page. With user-friendly categories and more users, this new “channel” could become quite powerful. As this analysis agrees, look out Craig’s List, Amazon and EBay… Stay tuned…

NYTimes Gets Inside Google’s Economic Impact & Yahoo’s Community Strategies

Getting inside the dynamics of the many ways that Google and the democratization of the world’s information are changing “everything” is not easy for most folks, so I appreciate a well-written article like Just Googling It Is Striking Fear Into Companies from the front page of this past Sunday’s New York Times.

Likewise, I recommend NYT’s “Techno Files” commentary (from the business section of the same issue), A Journey to the Center of Yahoo for anyone seeking a better understanding of what Yahoo is up to as the Web continues to grow in importance to our lives and for our businesses.