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Google Adds Social Features to Gmail

9 Feb 2010

As part of jump-starting its new web strategy, internet giant Google is preparing to introduce social-networking features into Gmail.

Gmail users can already set their status within the email service, but Google will now expand that functionality in to a status update stream similar to Facebook and Twitter.

These status updates will eventually include content shared by Google contacts through other Google products such as YouTube and Picasa.

Users will also be able to share photos and videos through the service.

The move comes as younger social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have stolen some of the internet limelight from the tech giant.

“It might look like a minor feature advance, but this is another blow in the war against Facebook,” said Jeremiah Owyang, partner at technology consulting company, Altimeter Group.

One of Facebook’s key investors is Googl’es rival, Microsoft, with Facebook users able to easily access the Bing search engine from their profile pages.

“You can see the factions starting to line up,” Mr. Owyang said.

Google recently made similar social networking upgrades to its Wave communication platform in response to user feedback.

After Google search, Gmail is one of the company’s most popular products.

Learn more about effective online networking tools at CeBIT’s Business Process Management Expo.

Reach a wider audience at the CeBIT Web Marketing Conference.

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