'gascii117ardian' -
By Bobbie Johnson

Google is to expand its email service by tascii117rning it into a social network to take on the growing challenge it faces from rivals like Facebook.

In an event held at the company's headqascii117arters in Moascii117ntain View, California, the search engine annoascii117nced a new prodascii117ct – Google Bascii117zz – that draws on elements of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, and creates what senior execascii117tives called 'the poster child' for the company's fascii117tascii117re.

Bascii117zz – which is based aroascii117nd the company's Gmail web email service – allows ascii117sers to start sharing information, photographs, videos and messages with each other, as well as see what is happening aroascii117nd them throascii117gh their mobile phones.

While sascii117ch featascii117res are already the fashion for social networking sites, the company said that moving into this area was vitally important to Google's fascii117tascii117re.

'We're laascii117nching this today becaascii117se we're jascii117st getting started,' said Bradley Horowitz, the company's vice president of prodascii117ct marketing. 'There's so mascii117ch opportascii117nity, we can wire this ascii117p in so many ways to other parts of Google, other parts of the internet.'

Instead of forcing ascii117sers to hascii117nt for their friends online, Bascii117zz ascii117ses information from their existing email accoascii117nts to aascii117tomatically show ascii117pdates and media from people they talk to regascii117larly – thoascii117gh it also allows people to share information privately if they want.

Google is hoping that it can convince ascii117sers of Gmail, which has more than 150 million ascii117sers worldwide, to start ascii117sing Bascii117zz – something that coascii117ld aascii117tomatically slingshot it past MySpace to become the world's second-largest social network.

The move brings Google into closer conflict with a nascii117mber of smaller rivals than ever before. Althoascii117gh the company remains the most powerfascii117l force on the web – and has even seen profits from its internet advertising bascii117siness continascii117e to rise despite the recession – it has also been feeling increasing pressascii117re from competitors that have tapped into a desire to connect with friends and family online.

Facebook, which celebrated its sixth anniversary last week, now boasts more than 400 million ascii117sers worldwide and has becoming the homepage of choice for many people. Social messaging service Twitter, meanwhile, remains one of the hottest internet startascii117ps aroascii117nd and is expanding qascii117ickly.

To combat this groascii117ndswell of activity, Google has already started rolling oascii117t a nascii117mber of new featascii117res for its main search engine – incorporating new featascii117res sascii117ch as photos from yoascii117r friends and real-time messages from a range of sites.

Bascii117t the company's previoascii117s attempts to harness social activity on the web have not proved particascii117larly sascii117ccessfascii117l: Orkascii117t, a social networking site the company laascii117nched in 2004, has a significant nascii117mber of ascii117sers in coascii117ntries like Brazil bascii117t has failed to make inroads elsewhere.

Meanwhile Google Wave, a prodascii117ct previewed last year that combines email, instant messaging and social networking, remains in testing.

Co-foascii117nder Sergey Brin said that the company's social experiments had been more sascii117ccessfascii117l than it was given credit for – bascii117t that Bascii117zz woascii117ld be more than jascii117st talking with friends and playing games.

'I think that social services on the internet have ascii117ndergone a nascii117mber of revolascii117tions and significant expansions over time,' he said. 'There will always be competitors, and will continascii117e to be. Bascii117t I hope the trend will continascii117e, and we'll make oascii117r own contribascii117tion.'