The Normalized Google Distance was not the first attempt at semantic quantification from search engine results. Steve Johnson coins the term 'googleshare' in late 2002, spawning several early attempts at coaxing language out of Google. These attempts were mostly unsuccessful, but the project had not at this point been taken very seriously.

Google Talk

Addendum: Google Sets is released at roughly the same time. While its function and purpose were shrouded in mystery for years, later developments prove it to be one of the more important steps in Google's progress.