I feel like I'm just copying titles from Garett's site, but this one is BRILLIANT.

Froogle's replacement is nigh here... and here's the evidence:

http://www.google.com/base/s2?q=ice+cream+maker#a_n0%3D%26a_y0%3D9%26start%3D0%26q%3Dice!520cream!520maker%26scoring%3D%26%26

from

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=372

Map view is fantastic

Sohil and Mambo:
Garrett does rock!

The maps view reminds me in some ways of what MS Expo has been offering for months.

When you first get to MS Expo
http://expo.live.com
you select from a list of locations and then a distance from that location. Every result includes distance from that location along with "National Results." Of course, it's easy to change locations. Logged in users get more features.
You can also map all of your results at one time. Example:
http://expo.live.com/ListingSearch.aspx?q=&SSID_=0&TYPE_=keyword&keywords=mp3&x=0&y=0

Also, the very useful Become.com offers maps for users to find nearby brick and mortar stores (Yahoo Maps) that have the product they want.
See:
http://www.become.com/press/pr080306.html
Here's an example of a digitial camera available at several brick and mortar stores in the Chicago area.
http://www.become.com/shop?q=digital+cameras&pid=207211003&bskuid=302863307

Unrelated Note:
Sometimes the metadata associated with a Froogle entry makes little sense to me. For example, the ice cream maker that Mambo uses in his example (Yummy!) includes a field to limit by gender. Seems odds that your gender will make a difference in making your decision.
http://www.google.com/base/s2?q=ice+cream+maker#a_n0%3D%26a_y0%3D9%26start%3D0%26q%3Dice!520cream!520maker%26scoring%3D%26%26

When I choose female I then get a box allowing me to limit by marital status. Hmm.
http://www.google.com/base/s2?q=ice+cream+maker#a_n0%3D%26a_y0%3D9%26start%3D0%26q%3Dice!520cream!520maker%26scoring%3D%26%26%26a_n1%3Dgender%26a_y1%3D1%26a_o1%3D0%26a_v1%3Dfemale%26a_n3%3Dinterested%20in%26a_y3%3D1%26a_o3%3D5%26a_n4%3Dmarital%20status%26a_y4%3D1%26a_o4%3D5%26a_n5%3Doccupation%26a_y5%3D1%26a_o5%3D5%26a_n6%3Dage%26a_y6%3D2%26a_o6%3D5%26a_n2%3Dlocation%26a_y2%3D6%26a_o2%3D5

When I choose male I can limit by Sexual Orientation and/or marital status and/or occupation.

Google Base still tosses interesting results. Compare a search for Saturday Night Live products with one for SNL products.
http://www.google.com/base/search?a_n0=products&a_y0=9&a_n0=products&a_y0=9&a_o0=&nd=1&q=saturday+night+live&btnG=Search+Products&a_n303=price&a_u303=usd&a_y303=8&a_o303=4&a_v303=&a_f303=&a_t303=&a_n940=brand&a_y940=1&a_o940=0&a_v940=&a_v940=&a_n44=product+type&a_y44=1&a_o44=0&a_v44=&a_v44=&a_n208=condition&a_y208=1&a_o208=0&a_v208=&a_v208=&scoring=aa_303&us=0&showrefine=1&hl=en&gl=US

Products from/about the show are there but it takes several extra clicks.
http://www.google.com/base/search?a_n0=products&a_y0=9&a_n0=products&a_y0=9&a_o0=&nd=1&q=snl&btnG=Search+Products&a_n303=price&a_u303=usd&a_y303=8&a_o303=4&a_v303=&a_f303=&a_t303=&a_n940=brand&a_y940=1&a_o940=0&a_v940=&a_v940=&a_n44=product+type&a_y44=1&a_o44=0&a_v44=&a_v44=&a_n208=condition&a_y208=1&a_o208=0&a_v208=&a_v208=&scoring=r&us=0&showrefine=1&hl=en&gl=US

To me, this shows why controlled vocab is of great value to bring like things together.

Btw, when I search Ice Cream Maker in the current version of Google Base and limit to books I find the same book multiple times.
http://www.google.com/base/search?a_n0=products&a_y0=9&a_n0=products&a_y0=9&a_o0=&gl=US&hl=en&nd=&showrefine=0&q=ice+cream+maker&btnG=Search+Products&a_n303=price&a_u303=usd&a_y303=8&a_o303=4&a_v303=&a_f303=&a_t303=&a_n940=brand&a_y940=1&a_o940=0&a_v940=&a_v940=&a_n44=product+type&a_y44=1&a_o44=0&a_v44=books&a_v44=&a_n208=condition&a_y208=1&a_o208=0&a_v208=&a_v208=&scoring=r&us=0

WOW!!!
awesome design!! cool features!!

love it!! just love it!!

thanks Joe (and of course Garett) for this great find!

Gary I don't know about the others but Live Expo is pretty cool.

yeah i like live expo. would be good to see some more of these features in google base 2. but the new one has got a nice clean design.

I dont see how this could be a new version of Base. To me, it's nothing to do with base. It's for the searchers, not the uploaders.

Mambo, I think it has a lot to do with Base. It's in the Base directory, it uses a "2" in the URL, it shows Base categories as combo boxes, it contains product listings, and much more. Google Base is a service where people can upload their stuff which can then be searched through through means such as web search (in the future, I guess!). Of course you can as much think of this as a Froogle successor as it is a Base successor, because I think Froogle is basically going to be replaced with a Base 2 approach...

I would never disagree with PL (well most of the time) but if this is the case Google will need to do something about cleaning the database up.

f the metadata is supposed to HELP/ASSIST the searcher in getting to what they are looking for more easily, What I see know (as I have in the past) is confusing and often does not help with getting the searcher to the best product/service in the fewest amount of clicks (assuming the searcher) will use these features in the first place. That's another issue.

However, as I noted above and here (for example)
http://www.google.com/base/s2?q=ice+cream+maker#a_n0%3D%26a_y0%3D9%26start%3D0%26q%3Dice!520cream!520maker%26scoring%3D%26%26%26a_n1%3Dgender%26a_y1%3D1%26a_o1%3D0%26a_v1%3Dfemale%26a_n3%3Dinterested%20in%26a_y3%3D1%26a_o3%3D5%26a_n4%3Dmarital%20status%26a_y4%3D1%26a_o4%3D5%26a_n5%3Doccupation%26a_y5%3D1%26a_o5%3D5%26a_n6%3Dage%26a_y6%3D2%26a_o6%3D5%26a_n2%3Dlocation%26a_y2%3D6%26a_o2%3D5
being able to limit by age, occupation, gender or marital status makes little sense to me when searching for an ice cream maker.

Btw, it's not just Google Base "2".
Say I want to purchase a TiVo is Google Base today. Well, if I'm most searchers and just enter search terms. I come up with nothing of real value.
http://base.google.com/base/search?nd=&showrefine=0&q=tivo&btnG=Search+Base

Ok, limiting to products, helps, but still, how about just a machine to purchase.
http://base.google.com/base/search?nd=&q=tivo&btnG=Search+Base&a_n447=products&a_y447=9&showrefine=1&hl=en&gl=US

Limiting even more we find an option to limit to Books (OK, makes sense) , Remote Controls (makes sense) and then Music. Huh? I find a machine but also a CD from William Hung CD. What this has to do with a TiVo is difficult to ascertain.
http://base.google.com/base/search?a_n447=products&a_y447=9&a_o447=&gl=US&hl=en&nd=&showrefine=1&q=tivo&a_n303=price&a_u303=usd&a_y303=8&a_o303=4&a_v303=&a_f303=&a_t303=&a_n940=brand&a_y940=1&a_o940=0&a_v940=&a_v940=&a_n44=product+type&a_y44=1&a_o44=0&a_v44=music&a_v44=&a_n208=condition&a_y208=1&a_o208=0&a_v208=&a_v208=&scoring=r&us=0

Finally, to compete with other directories (IMHO) Google Base and Base
"2" need to be more complete. I was unable to find a tailor within 45 miles of downtown Chicago
http://base.google.com/base/search?a_n0=services&a_y0=9&a_n0=services&a_y0=9&a_o0=&gl=US&hl=en&nd=&showrefine=0&q=tailor&btnG=Search+Services&a_n976=service+type&a_y976=1&a_o976=0&a_v976=&a_n303=price&a_u303=usd&a_y303=8&a_o303=0&a_f303=&a_t303=&sl=true&a_n152=location&a_y152=6&a_o152=0&a_t152=45&a_v152=60611

re: Google Base. Let's try a search for an Ice Cream Maker
http://base.google.com/base/search?q=ice+cream+maker&btnG=Search+Services&nd=1&a_n987=upc&a_y987=1&showrefine=1&hl=en&gl=US
The UPC codes are far from complete and contain numerous non-UPC data.

Finally, this search for a vehicle in the NYC area.
http://base.google.com/base/search?a_n0=vehicles&a_y0=9&hl=en&gl=US
If I enter KIA I find over 2200 results. However, the original search does not offer KIA as a pull-down option in the "Make" option. The same goes for BMW where over over 7000 cars are listed. Why do some makes and models get the metadata while others don't?

Question. Wouldn't be easier for an end user to use a specialty database in this case vs. something like this?

But then again Gary, yes a specialty db would be the near term objectives.. however, data is data and search engine needs to figure out how be smarter!!

So, this means rather then "specialty database in this case vs. something like this?" – I'll rather opt for proper AI rather then a db

I agree search need to be smarter but we have seen an monumental growth in specialty search tools in the past few years. However, human indexing still makes a difference.

Also, I would argue that a database favorite of many, Pandora, is built by humans actually listening to songs, thousands of them, and creating the metadata from what they here/listen to provide better results.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that's it's a combo of both.

Yes, a combo is the ideal situation but also take into account spamming/gamming (nothing new) and the just bad data can make for some poor results, that costs end users time and frustration.

I think you would agree that some form of controlled vocabulary, even if invisible to the contributor would make for better results.

Feel free to contact me off the forum for lots of examples and some cool databases to boot depending on where you live. Garyresourceshelf.com

Here's a quick tool as an example:
The ERIC thesaurus for education. A tool like this helps the searcher find related materials based on a controlled vocabulary. Does Jr. High School and Middle School mean the same thing?
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal;jsessionid=FGFYnMGv04rgJzX2s2JQRVFHQJk3pgyvp7pVL6yzfLkKqqwRYQQv!-708816318?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=Thesaurus&_nfls=false

Can related terms help the searcher in getting to what they need (expanding or narrowing their search)
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&portlet_thesaurus_1_actionOverride=%2Fcustom%2Fportlets%2Fthesaurus%2FgotoDetail&_windowLabel=portlet_thesaurus_1&portlet_thesaurus_1term=Computer+Centers&_pageLabel=Thesaurus

What about SNL and Saturday Night Live?

Should the searcher find the identical results (or be taken to the same starting point) if they are searching for sneakers, tennis shoes, gym shoes, trainiers, tenny-runners, etc?

Is it pop, soda, soft drink, soft beverage, or as they say in many parts of the US. Coke even if they want a Pepsi?

Pancakes, flap jacks, wheat cakes, griddle cakes, etc?

In fact, not only at my company but let's say at Clusty, we can see some of this coming into play. In fact, Ask's Zoom and Clusty's dynamic clusters can not only serve as tools to narrow and focus but also as info discovery tools allowing the searcher to see what would take thousands of pages and lots of time to do.

And yes, AI can do incredible things. Have you seen Citeseer recently. WOW!
http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/
Note the THREE ways to search and the masses amount of data the crawler can distinguish.

When it comes to multimedia search, take a look at Nexidia.
http://www.nexidia.com
Demo: http://www.wxia.com
This company goes well beyond what others offer in terms of transcript searching from tv or radio. Instead of closed captioning or speech to text, this company breaks the English language into 42 phonetic sounds for faster and from what I've seen more accurate indexing.