• by Shankar Gupta , April 6, 2006

In a move that potentially threatens newspaper classifieds, search giant Google has started filtering results from its classifieds service, Google Base, into its main search engine results page. Google is incorporating classified results in several categories, including real estate, recipes and jobs, into its organic results, but the housing ads--traditionally a lucrative source of revenue for print newspapers--so far appear to be generating the most buzz.

Users who search for terms like "apartments for rent" or "homes for sale" on the main page are then shown a separate search box, at the top of the organic results, inviting them to refine their search by location, apartment type, and listing type.

Local search analyst Greg Sterling said that pushing out Google Base listings into the main search results should make the service more user-friendly. "I think that they fundamentally recognize that Base is not a meaningful thing unless they develop specialized user experience around the content," he said. "The problem was that from Google's perspective, Base is a great idea. It's a content acquisition tool. From a user perspective, it's very confusing."

He added that Google Base has "unlimited verticalization potential," provided enough users upload content. "They could build vertical after vertical around the traditional jobs, classifieds space, and drive significant usage, if they promote it," Sterling said. "What we're seeing over time is more and more verticalization that Google will try to integrate into its search results in a way that doesn't diminish the simplicity and attraction of Google.com." Google Base was launched last October, was heralded as Google's inroad into the classifieds space. The service allows any user with a Google account to upload a listing, which can be a recipe, a classified ad, a job offer, or a personal profile, among other things. Some industry watchers have predicted that Google Base, much like free classified pioneer Craigslist.com, will further squeeze the classified sections of print newspapers.