Google Base To Compete With Craigslist

Google recently announced their latest service – Google Base.  What is Google Base?  According to Google it is a place where anyone can post something they want to sell such as event tickets, cars, products, jobs, and even houses.  The service directly integrates with Google search results which is definitely an appealing feature.

In addition to integration within search results you can just search Google Base and Google Products.  For example, events and other assorted tickets can be found here, while cars and other vehicles can be found here.  Google makes it easy for payments to be sent, too.  You can accept all major credit cards and of course you have the option for Google Checkout.

The one set of features which is really nice is the ability to list multiple items with extreme ease.  Google Base allows you to list up to 10 items at once with the item form.  However, you can also take advantage of two other features for mass listings.  The second option is to upload a data feed (XML file) with all of the information into the Google Base system.  That particular method can handle thousands of items at once.  The third (and last) option is to use the Google Base API to manage your items.

Google Base looks like an appealing alternative to Craigslist and certainly something many may feel more comfortable with using, especially after all of the latest news stories pertaining to Craigslist.  Nonetheless, companies have attempted to take on Craigslist in the past and failed.  Will Google be able to have some success in this area?