Google Base (formerly know as Froogle) is a free Google service aim  primarily at products and services unlike the regular Google search which is targeted at information websites. Google and other research found out that search engine users looking for products use search engine quite differently from searchers looking to buy goods or services. A content optimised and submitted to Google Base would appear in Google Base, shopping search and may also appear on Google Maps.

Submitting your content to Google Base does not affect your site ranking in Google search, it actually give you additional bite of the organic search engine traffic should your feed be accepted, it would appear at the top of Google search engine result (in addition to Google Base itself), competition to appear on Google search engine result is quite stiff, only three products from Google Base tends to make it to Google SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages.

Algorithm for ranking Google Base products is not as advance as the algorithm for Google search, it is more literal in Google Base, this should be taken into account when preparing your product feed. You should include factors relevant to your product especially the product name, model etc in your product title and description, the keywords you are targeting should also appear in the title and description.
The first 15 words are quite significant, put a lot of though into your product description. Do not stuff the description with keywords as this is frowned upon and could lead to your listing being penalized.

Google Base allows custom attributes, it is important that you use this carefully as it will help rank your product higher, users searching for product are said to search differently to searchers searching for information, for example, a searcher looking to buy gloves for a child could use  keywords like “gloves for a 10 year old” so if you added attribute such as “suitable for children aged 10-13 year old” your product is bound to be listed higher when the searchers looking for “gloves for a 10 year old” searches with the aforementioned key phrase.

Another optimisation tip to help you rank well in Google Base is images, by adding relevant images to your product you increase your click-through rates. The image should be a high resolution representation of the product or services you are offering, adding a generic image will not have significant impact on your product CTR. And finally, Google product search uses an eBay style rating system where your customer leave feedback about their purchase experience with your company, try and get as much good rating as possible as this will positively impact your rating in Google Base.

Useful Google Base related information
* Google Base homepage : http://www.google.com/base/
*  Shopping Cart with automatic Google Base export : www.bosscart.co.uk
*  Discuss Google Base : http://www.webmasterserve.com/ecommerce/