Google has bought San Francisco-based Metaweb Technologies, and its database, in an effort to help build a form of semantic web search.
The Metaweb database, known as Freebase, stores information on over 12 million real-world “things”, including people, locations, companies, movies, books and many others.
Originally intended to help customers enhance their website using the data, Google hopes to turn it into a form of meta search, where various terms are related to physical things which share certain attributes.
"The web isn’t merely words — it’s information about things in the real world, and understanding the relationships between real-world entities can help us deliver relevant information more quickly,” said Google in a blog post, adding that with Metaweb, they could improve search and make the web richer and more meaningful.
The new form of search may have future implications for SEO.
Google will continue to maintain the Freebase for public use and has invited other companies to use it and help it grow.
