Google to Launch Spreadsheet

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Inc. will introduce a spreadsheet program Tuesday, continuing the Internet search leader's expansion into territory long dominated by Microsoft Corp.

Although it is still considered a work in progress, Google's online spreadsheet will offer consumers and businesses a free alternative to Microsoft's Excel -- a product typically sold as part of the Office software suite that has been a steady moneymaker for years.

To avoid swamping the company's computers, Google's spreadsheet initially will be distributed to a limited audience. Google also wants time to smooth out any possible kinks and develop more features, said Jonathan Rochelle, the product manager of the new application.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company planned to begin accepting sign-ups for the spreadsheet at 9 a.m. through the "labs" section of its Web site. Rochelle would not specify how many people will get access to the spreadsheet application.

Google's spreadsheet is not as sophisticated as Excel. For instance, the Google spreadsheet will not create charts or provide a menu of controls that can be summoned by clicking on a computer mouse's right-hand button.

Rochelle said the program's main goal is to make it easier for family, friends or co-workers to gain access to the same spreadsheet from different computers at different times, enabling a group of authorized users to add and edit data without having to e-mail attachments back and forth.

Although distributing software over the Internet gives more people access to programs, the approach requires trusting a custodian -- in this case, Google -- to protect the information from unauthorized users.

That is a leap many security-conscious companies are unwilling to make and something consumers may be reluctant to do with rising concerns of government snooping.

The spreadsheet represents Google's latest software application to be tethered to an Internet connection instead of one computer's hard drive. Google acquired an online word-processing application called Writely in March and rolled out a calendar service a few weeks later.