Google Buys a Web Writer

Search giant Google says it has purchased the company that makes Writely, a Web-based word processing feature.

Writely is, simply put, a word processor embedded into a Web browser. It's still in a nascent beta form and is no longer freely distributed; "it's far from perfect," Jen Mazzon writes in her newly revealed role as a member of the Google Writely team.

Despite the drawbacks, it apparently fits perfectly into Google's plans. While better known for its consumer search engine, Google is mounting a significant effort to win over office computer desktops.