Google unites free Word and Excel rivals

Google Docs & Spreadsheets will serve context-sensitive ads to users

Google has united its online spreadsheet development project and Writely word processor application to create the more unified Google Docs & Spreadsheets. 

Still in beta, Google D&S allows both types of files to be managed from a single interface which displays file details, lists of 'collaborators' with access privileges to individual files, and tagged views of related files.

Users can now search and archive all the documents, or download them to a PC in a variety of formats including DOC, XLS, RTF, CSV, PDF and HTML.

As usual Google provides very little in the way of official comment on the announcement.

A posting at the newly launched Official Google Docs & Spreadsheets Blog written by 'Jen' says: "I think of documents as right-brain (a blank canvas for free-form writing) and spreadsheets as left-brain (a structured framework for lists and data)." 

Google acquired Upstartle, the company behind Writely, early in 2006. The two cut down applications will be available free, and Google is expected to serve context-sensitive advertising to users as they create documents.

New features announced this week include the ability to publish documents and spreadsheets online with one click, and a facility to post the contents of a document directly to a blog with the tags used as the post's categories.

Both features are unavailable to users of Microsoft's Office applications.