Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

John Battelle points to a screen shot of what seems to be a new service - the Google database - which may or not be there when you check.

Google Blogoscoped has a little more detail.

Update: Charlene Li points to a WSJ article that refers to Google Base as "the long-anticipated Google classifieds and listings service":

The WSJ’s take is that this is Google’s assault on eBay. Others will be sure to look at it as a way to link classifieds and the anticipated Google Wallet. But I think it’s actually much, much bigger. Google’s main search index relies on spiders to crawl the Web and the much bally-hooed Page Rank system to understand relevancy. Neither work well in a database environment where pages are generated dynamically and linked pages don’t exist. I believe this is Google’s way to not only build a lucrative listings business but also to flesh out other areas like Froogle and Local with deep content that’s otherwise inaccessible or just plain doesn’t exist.

Examples of items you can find in Google Base:

• Description of your party planning service
• Articles on current events from your website
• Listing of your used car for sale
• Database of protein structures