Google Offers Selection of Catalogs

Google is offering both a catalog search and a subject index of catalogs at http://catalogs.google.com. (It's in beta.) Catalogs include Dell, LL Bean, PC Connection, Harry & David, Ikea, etc. (You can get an unadorned list at http://catalogs.google.com/catalog_list).

Now, this isn't what you might expect. Do a search. (Blanket works well with over 1100 results.) Instead of plain Web results you'll get the name of the catalog. Then you'll get a picture of the catalog cover, a picture of the page on which your keyword appears, then a closeup of the area where your keyword appears. Click on any of the pictures and you'll get not only a larger picture but a header that provides contact information for the catalog (800- number and Web page for the ones I saw), a mechanism for paging through the entire catalog, and a box for searching just that store.

And it appears to be just paper catalogs. You can, for example, search Amazon.com, but if you search for Tom Peters you won't get any results. The Amazon.com search is limited to just the catalog they send out.

There is an advanced search for catalogs.google.com. It looks similar to the Google.com's advanced search but allows you to search by category or by individual catalog.

Catalog publishers, inclusion on this site is, believe it or not, free. Google IS developing premium elements of the site, including lead generation and reporting information. Really, really smart, and absolutely worth a look.

Posted to Search Engines-Google