It's better to be clear than clever 19 Apr 2007

CNET reports that Google is rebranding "Froogle" as "Google Product Search".

The ill-named Froogle had apparently been a problem from the start. "I don't think we understood the complications with rolling out another brand," said Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search product and user experience, 'While it was a cute and clever name, it had issues around copyright and trademark, as well as internationalization...The pun (on 'frugal') isn't obvious."

Froogle isn't the only brand that Google's had usability problems with. Google Base - a reference to "database" - also causes confusion among consumers who don't know what the name means - and therefore struggle to understand what the service is for.

Google Base is a site that lets people list their events, items and services for sale - think "Craigslist meets eBay" - however, it's impossible to glean this from its name alone.