Google boosts collaboration with comment-only function in Docs suite

Google has announced an update to the Google Docs online office suite that allows users to share and comment on documents, but not edit them, as the firm continues to enhance the suite for business users. 

The improvements mean that companies using the tool can share documents internally or externally to gain feedback on work, without losing the core content of the documents.

Google software engineer Sarah Wu said in a blog post that the new feature will be rolled out over the next few days, and will give owners of documents more control over their work while still being able to source insights from co-workers.

"Users that have comment-only access can view your document and add comments throughout, without being able to change the content of the document directly," she said.

"We hope this latest feature in discussions helps you get the feedback you need while providing more control over the content in your docs."

Owners of documents can use the drop down menus to set the documents as 'can comment' so that others can provide feedback.

The update follows a serious of changes to Google's online products, including an overhaul of the Blogger platform and the introduction of offline capabilities for Gmail, Calendar and Docs.

Google also recently confirmed that it will close 10 smaller projects which had become redundant, in an effort to focus more attention on the company's core tools.