New Google Groups

Will update this post later, been a bit swamped, but Google relaunched Groups today, with an emphasis on letting folks create their own groups. (Recall this was Usenet for a long time). While the company didn’t say it was a driver, Groups will drive more registrations and more content into the core of Google’s services. The interface is similar to Gmail. Some info from Google is in the extended entry.

Update: Google Blog posted and then retracted a Google Groups announcement, but the cats over at Slashdot caught it. Slashdot appears to be tearing Google a new one for not supporting search by date and deep linking, among other things. I will check into the deep linking thing, if they don’t support that, I am sure it’s an oversight. Not supporting deep linking into content that you want as part of the Index is insane. Thanks to reader Brian for the tip.

More on GGroups and all that:

Inside Google
Evan Williams (nice note on Blogger here)

Slashdot (original thread)
Andy
SEWBlog (which notes in another post that “most of Google remains in beta”)
Google Blogoscoped

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Google Groups is a free service people use to communicate effectively through email and the Web on every conceivable subject. Each Google Group has its own home page hosted by Google where members can start new discussions or reply to existing topics. Every Google Group has its own Google-fast search, making it easy to fi nd discussions deep in the group’s archive. Every group also has its own email address so members can stay in touch. Members can also read and search all public content within Google Groups, including more than 1 billion postings from the Usenet bulletin board service, which dates back to 1981.

The new version of Google Groups enables the easy creation of email announcement-only lists, mailing lists and public discussions in just minutes. And Google Groups also makes it easier to read and participate in discussions. All the replies to an initial post are now gathered on one page. It’s possible to bookmark topics you’re interested in and have new replies to ”My starred topics” visible on your personal group page.

New Features in Google Groups
• Create groups: Create or search web- and email-based communities, and designate your group as public (anyone can read the group’s messages on the Web) or restricted (only members can read, respond or start new conversations).
• Dynamic conversations: Postings to all Google Groups mailing lists and Usenet lists appear within seconds and are indexed within minutes.
• Enhanced user interface: Track and mark topics using the “My starred topics” feature, and view postings by message summary, title, or conversation view.
• Email notifi cation: Receive individual messages or abridged email summaries to participate in discussions via your inbox.
• Easy searching: Search easily for information within a group or across many groups.
• Relevant text ads: Google Groups displays only targeted ads that are relevant to your searches or the content on the page.