Google made another expansive move today, launching an assault on the classified advertising market with a product that allows people to list pieces of content, ranging from job adverts to DNA sequences, on a publicly-searchable online database.

Google Base, some details of which were leaked last month, is being billed as an extension of Google’s existing offerings, such as its search engine and print and video archives – all of which make information searchable on the web.

It seems to be aimed at newcomers to the web. "If you have information you want to share with others, but aren't sure how to go about gaining an audience, Google Base is for you," says the the Google Base frequently-asked-questions page.

It could, however, also pose a threat to traditional classified ad businesses such as national and local papers as well as other online listings services and perhaps even eBay, the online auction house and e-tailer.

"This is all part of our efforts to make it really easy for anyone with information to make it accessible from Google," Salar Kamangar, the vice-president of product management at Google, said. "We just felt like this piece was just missing before."

Google said that although it expects some people to make commercial use of Google Base, it does not expect that to be its primary use. The company has already reserved the right to refuse items such as explosives, magic mushrooms and body parts being offered for sale.

Initially aimed at the American audience, Google Base will at first only take English-language submissions, although a roll-out of custom features including international shipping or VAT calculations is planned.

Traditional publishers have already been hit hard by online classifieds. The number of UK job vacancies advertised on the internet increased by 20 per cent in the first ten months of the year, according to industry studies.

Monster, the world's largest online recruiter, said earlier this month that internet job listings rose by almost 3 per cent in October.

In September, Emap, the publisher, revealed a 14 per cent decline in recruitment advertising since the second half of last year. One of its titles, Nursing Times, expected a 30 per cent fall in advertising due to new competition from the health service's own free internal website, NHSjobs.com. The most visited job website in the UK, Jobcentre Plus, is also run by the public sector.

Much of the growth in online ads is coming at the expense of national newspapers. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation found earlier this year that national press advertising of jobs had fallen by 50 per cent since hitting its peak in September 2000, despite a strongly rising job market.

In response. Newsquest Media, Northcliffe Newspapers Group, Trinity Mirror and Guardian Media Group jointly developed fish4jobs, the second largest online recruitment site on the web in terms of user numbers.

Times Recommends

• US stocks fall below 9,000 mark
• House price fall smallest in seven months
• Wary investors opt to keep cash in safes