Google Spreadsheets added an option in the sharing dialog that allows anyone to view or edit the spreadsheet just by knowing the URL. Until now, you had to send an invitation URL that contained a secret code and the people you invited had to login using a Google account.
Pretty soon, just about every site may have a social-networking component, Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li wrote in her blog. While MySpace and Facebook are extending their reach even further, Google is tapping into the social Web in its own way. Google says its new feature gives site owners the tools to "attract and engage more people by giving visitors a way to connect with friends on their websites." So sites that would otherwise not have any social-networking features can, through Google, add tools that let visitors see, invite and interact with their friends.
Google will join Facebook and MySpace, which launched ways to port user data to partner sites this week. Facebook Connect will provide the hooks to let users port their friends, profile photos, events, and other data across the Web to partner sites. MySpace on Thursday announced Data Availability, with Yahoo, eBay, Photobucket, and Twitter as initial partners for its effort to let members port their data.