ReadWriteWeb

If you haven't discovered Google Trends yet, you're missing out on some of the Web's most interesting data and information. At any point you can see what searches are trending on Google and can use this data to compare the popularity of trends over time with nifty graphs. It's fun to play around with - but wouldn't it be nice if someone spoon-fed you the popular trends, explaining them each week in a short-form video podcast format? Luckily this is precisely what Google will now be doing with a new weekly video series called Google Beat.

In the past, we've looked at alerts service like Yotify and Alerts.com, and they each do a decent enough job of being your personalized web scout. But recently, we were introduced to Trackle, a new service in the same genre. At first, we'll admit, our reaction to hearing there was yet another alerts service available was one of apathy - there are already plenty out there, including the old standby, Google Alerts - who needs another? As it turn out, Trackle was the one we were waiting for. After playing around with Trackle, it was clear that this one could be a winner.

During a talk at the New England Database Day conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Google's Alon Halevy admitted that the search giant has "not been doing a good job" presenting the structured data found on the web to its users. By "structured data," Halevy was referring to the databases of the "deep web" - those internet resources that sit behind forms and site-specific search boxes, unable to be indexed through passive means.