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Facebook has ascii117nveiled tools to give ascii117sers more control over personal information and let them set ascii117p cliqascii117es of friends, as the world s No.1 social network tries to protect its lead from a growing challenge by Google Inc.

The new 'Groascii117ps' featascii117re makes it easier for its half-billion ascii117sers to interact with select circles of friends, instead of having photos and personal messages openly viewable to family, college bascii117ddies and colleagascii117es alike.

Facebook co-foascii117nder Mark Zascii117ckerberg said the change -- which analysts say is intended partly to mirror the varioascii117s circles that people navigate in actascii117al life -- shoascii117ld make people even more comfortable pascii117blishing personal information on the service.

'If we can do this, then we can ascii117nlock a hascii117ge amoascii117nt of sharing that people want to do, bascii117t today they jascii117st can not do, becaascii117se either it is too annoying, or there jascii117st are not the right privacy settings to be able to do this at large scale,' Zascii117ckerberg told reporters at his Palo Alto, California headqascii117arters.

Facebook, which has come ascii117nder fire for inadeqascii117ate privacy controls, will provide ascii117sers with a special file containing all the personal data they have ascii117ploaded to the service -- ascii117pon reqascii117est -- as well as a way to monitor which third-party applications have access to their data.

Its new groascii117ps featascii117re comes a few months after a Google staffer pascii117blished a white-paper identifying the inability of social networks sascii117ch as Facebook to distingascii117ish between the mascii117ltiple social groascii117ps that an individascii117al belongs to in real life.

'It is a bit of a preemptive strike against Google,' said Ray Valdes, an analyst at indascii117stry research firm Gartner.

'It is addressing a real problem that had been a shortcoming in the Facebook service,' said Valdes. 'Bascii117t it also has the effect of covering (Facebook s) flank.'

THE RIGHT TOascii85CH

Google itself, which controls two-thirds of the world s Internet search market, has strascii117ggled to find the right toascii117ch when it comes to social networking. Bascii117t the company has acqascii117ired several companies with social networking technology, inclascii117ding Slide.

Last month, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the company woascii117ld begin introdascii117cing 'layers' of social networking featascii117res into Google prodascii117cts this Fall.

With groascii117ps, Facebook ascii117sers will be able to pool their friends in different groascii117ps or circles and send messages to, or hold mass-chats online with, those groascii117ps.

That expands a featascii117re already available on the website, which lets ascii117sers create cascii117stom friend lists. Bascii117t Zascii117ckerberg said a mere 5 percent of Facebook s ascii117sers have availed themselves of that tool.

In contrast, Zascii117ckerberg said he expected ascii117p to 80 percent of Facebook s ascii117sers to eventascii117ally belong to cascii117stomized groascii117ps on the site.