WebProNews

The search engine company confirmed today that screenshots posted of base.google.com were legitimate, but it's not ready for prime time.

Excitement ripped through the blogosphere today like a stack of White Castle sliders through a college student at 3 am when screenshots of a new Google product began appearing online.

The Wall Street Journal pried a brief comment out of Mountain View, as Google described the screenshots as a peek at "an early-stage test of a product that enables content owners to easily send their content to Google."

Though Google would not comment further on the Google Base, they did acknowledge the screenshots "accidentally" seen and captured by followers of the company's work were the real thing.

In the report, the Journal noted how the Google Base could signal Google's long-anticipated entry into competing with online auctioneers and classified sites, like eBay and Craigslist respectively.

An analyst commenting in the report sees Google's international development as a strength, should it take on eBay. "It's going to slowly chip away at eBay's growth and opportunities, especially in international markets where there is a tremendous amount of growth at Google," said Brian Blair, principal at Wedge Partners LLC, a New York research firm.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.