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Google takes on Facebook with Google+

Google is to trial a suite of social products that can be accessed through a website and a browser toolbar under the name Google+.

The web company’s aim is to divert users away from existing services such as Facebook, which senior vice-president for engineering Vic Gundotra referred to as “sloppy”, “scary” and “insensitive” in a blog post unveiling the Google service.

The suite, which begins through an invitation-only field trial, includes four different social offering under the + banner: Circles, Sparks, Hangout and Mobile.

Circles allows users to organise their contacts from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft into different groups and allow them to then share information among these groups. Sparks delivers users a feed of content relevant to users based around their specified interests with Gundotra stating that users “will always have something to watch, read and share”.

Hangout encourages users to consume content between their groups and consume it at the same time across a shared space. Finally, Mobile incorporates geo-location software, the ability to upload user content and co-ordinate group messages through a mobile device. Users can access

“We realise that Google+ is a different kind of project, requiring a different kind of focus - on you,” wrote Gundotra. “That’s why we’re giving you more ways to stay private or go public; more meaningful choices around your friends and more ways to let us know how we’re doing. All across Google.”

Josh Colley, London