According to a Google Plus post today, Freebase is shutting down, and will no longer be available after March 2015. The current Freebase data will be ported over into WikiData.
As you probably know, I have been one of Freebase’s biggest fans, and have a lot of edits under my belt there. I’ve also told a lot of people that they should make sure they have a Freebase page because it’s a part of the Knowledge Graph. I even participated in a Google Hangout about Freebase:
But now Freebase is shutting down.
So we’ve decided to help transfer the data in Freebase to Wikidata, and in mid-2015 we’ll wind down the Freebase service as a standalone project. Freebase has also supported developer access to the data, so before we retire it, we’ll launch a new API for entity search powered by Google’s Knowledge Graph.
Before the end of March 2015, they will launch an import review tool. They will announce a transition plan for the Freebase Search API & Suggest Widget to a Knowledge Graph-based solution.
On March 31, 2015 Freebase will be read-only, and won’t accept any edits.
On June 30, 2015, Freebase will retire the website.
Well, it was certainly fun, and useful, while it lasted. I was even able to update and change my Knowledge Graph entry in the Google search results by updating my Freebase entry. Maybe they just decided that as an entity it didn’t gain enough traction and it was ultimately just filled with a bunch a spam and Wikipedia data?
The Freebase system was built and patented by Metaweb and was acquired by Google in a private sale announced July 16, 2010.