Microsoft coders have been working quietly and steadily over the past few months to create a classified advertising system.
Announced Tuesday and launched in beta Wednesday, Fremont (named after a beautiful Seattle neighborhood ), seems to be a lot like Google Base . Fremont is currently in beta test and an MSN email address is required to access it.
Fremont is going to be a free service where anyone with information can place a listing. Items or services ranging from bowling balls or offering legal services, a listing on Fremont might find its way into one of MSN’s growing list of search services. For example, someone in Seattle wants to sell his or her bowling ball. If another person with a 98XYZ zip code types “Bowling supplies” into the MSN search engine, the Fremont bowling ball listing, along with a handy map, might be mentioned search results.
As with Google Base and sudden competitors Craigslists and eBay, one of the most interesting components of Fremont is that people placing listings don’t need to have an pre-established web presence. Fremont (and Base) will establish a listings page (or document) as soon as the information is entered. That document can link to an established web presence but a listing in the general, local, or other types of search indexes is not dependent on one.
Another interesting front in the ongoing search engine wars has opened. Any bets on when Yahoo is going to jump in?
Jim Hedger is the SEO Manager of StepForth Search Engine Placement Inc. Based in Victoria, BC, Canada, StepForth is the result of the consolidation of BraveArt Website Management, Promotion Experts, and Phoenix Creative Works, and has provided professional search engine placement and management services since 1997. http://www.stepforth.com/ Tel – 250-385-1190 Toll Free – 877-385-5526 Fax – 250-385-1198
