Google Base http://base.google.com briefly made a public preview, but has now been changed to 403 – Forbidden rights so it cannot be accessed. Some newspapers are suggesting that Google Base will put Google into direct competition with Ebay, other auction and even real estate websites.

A screen grab of Google Base the service is available on Flickr courtesy of JackySee and has been confirmed as legitimate.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackysee/56223004/

Google in a statement to the Wall Street Journal described Google Base as "an early-stage test of a product that enables users to easily send their content to Google,"

"We are testing new ways for content owners to easily send their content to Google," a spokesman said in an email. "Like our Web crawl and the recently released Google Sitemaps program, we are working to provide content owners an easy way to give us access to their content. We're continually exploring new opportunities to expand our offerings, but we don't have anything to announce at this time."

Here is Googles own description of the service taken from the screengrab.

“Post your items on Google.

Google Base is Google’s database into which you can add all types of content. We’ll host your content and make it searchable online for free.

Examples of items you can find in Google Base:

• Description of your party planning service
• Articles on current events from your website
• Listing of your used car for sale
• Database of protein structures

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 and Google Local.”