Menlo Park (ip-192.com): Google announced that it has acquired open database company Metaweb Technologies to help improve the quality of its search results. The San Francisco based company has developed Freebase, a collaborative knowledge base of structured data harvested from many sources, including individual wiki contributions. Instead of using tables and keys as in conventional databases, Freebase defines its structure as sets of nodes and links that establish relationships. Because its data structure is non-hierarchical, the open source Freebase can model much more complex relationships between individual elements than a conventional database.

Google says that it plans to use technologies developed by Metaweb to filter search terms according to information on places, events, and people. The acquisition will eventually help to improve the management and speed of semantic web development. Google plans to maintain Freebase as a free and open database.

"With efforts like rich snippets and the search answers feature, we’re just beginning to apply our understanding of the web to make search better," says Jack Menzel, Director of Product Management, in Google official blog. "Type [barack obama birthday] in the search box and see the answer right at the top of the page. Or search for [events in San Jose] and see a list of specific events and dates. We can offer this kind of experience because we understand facts about real people and real events out in the world. But what about [colleges on the west coast with tuition under $30,000] or [actors over 40 who have won at least one oscar]? These are hard questions, and we’ve acquired Metaweb because we believe working together we’ll be able to provide better answers."

Google did not disclose financial details of the acquisition.

Photo: Laeschke

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