This article was written on April 19, 2007 by CyberNet.
I have been using Google’s Froogle shopping service for several years, and now they have finally decided to switch the name to Google Product Search. I actually liked the name Froogle quite a bit because it was easy to remember and short to type. Now the official site can be found at http://google.com/products which will take a lot more for me to remember. For right now they make Froogle.com redirect to the new address, and hopefully they keep it that way.
Here is what Google’s Marissa Mayer had to say about the change:
You may be familiar with our product Froogle (a pun on “frugal”). Froogle offers a lot of great functionality and has helped many users find things to buy over the years, but the name caused confusion for some because it doesn’t clearly describe what the product does.
So we’re renaming Froogle as Google Product Search. We’re taking the opportunity to refocus the user experience on providing the most comprehensive, relevant results in a clean, simple, easy-to-use UI. We’re also excited about how Google Checkout can help searchers have a fast and secure purchase experience, so the new interface makes it easier to buy with Checkout.
I can see how there is some confusion about what Froogle’s purpose was, but do all names clearly describe the associated services? I believe it isn’t always about having the instant name recognition because it is also important to have something that is catchy. “Froogle” was just that…it stuck in my head and was something I wouldn’t forget. Whenever I think about searching for a product or price comparisons Froogle is one of the first things that comes to mind.
One thing that has been pushing me away from using Froogle (now Google Product Search) is the increasing amount of junk listings being served with the search results. They need a better method of refining, and one that I think they should offer is the ability to only show stores with a minimum number of ratings. Not only does that help cut back on spam, but it will also help you choose a more reputable store. They do, however, let you show sellers with a minimum rating (0 to 5 stars) but a store where only one person has rated it could achieve a perfect 5, and therefore skew the accuracy of the results.
Visit the Google Product Seach Homepage
Thanks for the tip Cory!
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