In what is being called just a start, Google has introduced the ability to better search and then actually use public data. The data that being used in this initial run is provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the US Census Bureau’s Population Division. Google’s hope is to not only make this data more easily accessible but then be able to use it in a way that can be helpful through comparisons of different data sets.

Two years ago Google purchased Trendalyzer, which is part of this offering. The Google blog states

Yesterday we looked at the SEC and its involvement in the world of social media. The impact of even the thought of raising a big government agency’s eyebrow in this environment is enough to send the most daring social media companies to the corner for a time out to think about what they are doing.

Yesterday, Reuters reported that another of the US government’s big boys, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), fired a warning shot across the bow of Internet companies regarding proper collection and use of data for advertising.

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said that

Companies that track consumer behavior on the Web for targeted advertising without proper consent are near their “last chance” to self-regulate.

Don’t have anything to do this weekend? Wondering how you are going to fill the hours between now and whenever then is for you? How about kicking around the new Google Toolbar Labs for a while. The Google blog announced the new opportunity to test things out and help those crazy Googlers improve on the Google toolbar.

Just as Google Labs and Gmail Labs are playgrounds for new ideas, Toolbar Labs was built to get ideas out there quickly to see how you like them.

The first two Lab versions of the toolbar are interesting and quite different. The first is called Google Toolbar with My Location. This is designed to create the same experience for computer users that was given to the mobile set last September with Mobile Search with My Location.