Google buys Metaweb to 'improve search'

(AP) -- Search giant Google Inc. says it has bought Metaweb Inc., a company that helps connect Internet search words to real-world things.

Terms were not disclosed.

Google director of product management, Jack Menzel, said in a blog post Friday that the acquisition will help "improve search and make the Web richer and more meaningful."

In a video on its website, San Francisco-based Metaweb says search words themselves can be interpreted in too many ways to be useful.

Instead, it has created an open database of more 12 million things, such as people, companies, movies and books, and how they relate to each other.

Menzel said the database, called Freebase, will help Google answer more complex questions.

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