Google debuted a beta test version of Google Blog Search this week, more than two years after acquiring Pyra Labs, which developed Google's Blogger Web site.
The ability to search blog content has been one of the most requested features from Google users, according to Google.
“Google is a strong believer in the self-publishing phenomenon represented by blogging, and we hope Blog Search will help our users to explore the blogging universe more effectively,” according to a statement on the Blog Search site.
The new Blog Search, at Google.com/blogsearch, facilitates searches of all blogs on the Web, not just those on Google-owned Blogger.com.
“Google Blog Search searches all feeds, independent of the blogging platform or hosting provider,” Google said. “We do not give precedence in results to feeds from our own service, Blogger.”
Already, the site searches millions of blogs, Jeff Reynar, product manager at Google, told DM News. When asked about opportunities for advertisers on Blog Search, Reynar said Google has not “focused on monetization strategies at this point.”
Still, search marketers are excited about Google getting more involved in the blog medium.
“Google has the ability to take blogs and blogging mainstream by featuring blog results within their main search results,” said Peter Hershberg, managing partner at search marketing firm Reprise Media, New York.
Blog Search users can subscribe to specific search results and view them from the newsreader of their choice, automatically receiving the latest results. Blog Search also lets searchers find blogs written in French, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese and several other languages.
Even though Blog Search is in beta, it seems that Google already has a “killer product,” Hershberg said.
“We really like that they've built in the ability to receive RSS-based alerts for specific searches, similar to their Google News Alerts,” he said.
Christine Blank covers online marketing and advertising, including e-mail marketing and paid search, for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
