Google Provides Access to Full Usenet Archives

Posted on May 4, 2001

Google, a provider of search technology, announced that it has integrated the full Usenet archive formerly maintained by Deja.com with recent posts to provide complete access to Usenet data since 1995. Google Groups now contains more than 650 million messages (over a terabyte of human conversation). Google acquired the service from Deja.com in February, 2001. The acquisition provided Google with Deja's entire Usenet archive (dating back to 1995), software, domain names including deja.com and dejanews.com, company trademarks, and other intellectual property.

Google also mentioned that it is working to add posting functionality. The company expects to offer posting by no later than mid-May. Frequent Deja.com users were suprised when Google acquired the company and suddenly moved the search technology over to the Google.com website, but Google so far has moved quickly to integrate the technology.

Google provides a variety of ways for users to search through the vast collection of Usenet conversations. Users can do a simple keyword search or they can limit the results by selecting a specific author, subject or newsgroup. Users can also select a specific date range to search through. The Usenet database can also be browsed by individual newsgroups. An introductory guide and a Faq are provided for new Usenet users. Google also recently added a Google Friends newsletter for those who want to keep up with future changes.