Google launches blog tracking service

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Google has launched an enhanced blog tracking service that helps people mine a growing mountain of online commentary for gems worth reading.

The Google Blog Search tool rolled out this week competes with Techmeme, Polymeme, Wikio and other “memetrackers” that sort and organize blog posts into categories.

“Did you know that millions of bloggers around the world write new posts each week?” Google product manager Michael Cohen wrote in an Internet posting of his own.

“We’re pleased to launch a new homepage for Google Blog Search so that you too can browse and discover the most interesting stories in the blogosphere.”

The Northern California company applied technology from its Google News website to separate blog postings into clusters based on topics, stories or events.

A lead category Friday morning at Google Blog Search was the debate that occurred the previous evening between U.S. vice presidential contenders Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.

An icon with a picture of the political rivals indicated that 1,620 blogs were compiled in the category during the previous 19 hours.

The lead item was a Huffington Post piece saying ex-officials from the administration of U.S. President George W Bush believe Biden won the verbal duel with Palin.

“Grouping them in clusters lets you see the best posts on a story or get a variety of perspectives,” Cohen said in his online message.

“When you look within a cluster, you’ll find a collection of the most interesting and recent posts on the topic, along with a timeline graph that shows you how the story is gaining momentum in the blogosphere.”