Google has announced that its Data Search tool is out of beta and ready for prime time.
Data Search is a tool designed to provide an easy way to search the countless datasets that exist on the web. As Google explains in their post, “across the web, there are millions of datasets about nearly any subject that interests you. If you’re looking to buy a puppy, you could find datasets compiling complaints of puppy buyers or studies on puppy cognition. Or if you like skiing, you could find data on revenue of ski resorts or injury rates and participation numbers. Dataset Search has indexed almost 25 million of these datasets, giving you a single place to search for datasets and find links to where the data is.”
Based on feedback the company has received from the beta period, Google has added a number of new features, including the ability to filter datasets, see maps of a region associated with a dataset, whether a dataset is available for free, better dataset descriptions and mobile support.
Organizations who have a dataset they want included in Data Search can ensure it’s added via an open standard.
“The number of datasets that you can find in Dataset Search continues to grow. If you have a dataset on your site and you describe it using schema.org, an open standard, others can find it in Dataset Search. If you know that a dataset exists, but you can’t find it in Dataset Search, ask the provider to add the schema.org descriptions and others will be able to learn about their dataset as well.”
Now that the tool is publicly available, Google is committed to continuing to improve it. The tool should be a valuable addition to a wide range of companies, researchers and consumers.
