Google Base
Google Base was a database provided by Google into which any user can add almost any type of content, such as text, images, and structured information in formats such as XML, PDF, Excel, RTF, or WordPerfect. As of September 2010, the product has been downgraded to Google Merchant Center. If Google found user-added content relevant, submitted content appeared on its shopping search engine, Google Maps or even the web search. The piece of content could then be labeled with attributes like the ingredients for a recipe or the camera model for stock photography. Because information about the  service was leaked before public release, it generated much interest in the information technology community prior to release. Google subsequently responded on their blog with an official statement: Files could be uploaded to the Google Base servers by browsing your computer or the web, by various FTP methods, or by API coding. Online tools were provided to view the number of downloads of the user's files, and other performance measures. On December 17, 2010, it was announced that Google Base's API is deprecated in favor of a set of new APIs known as Google Shopping APIs. Google Base