WASHINGTON, March 10 (UPI) -- Google acquired Thursday Silicon Valley-based Upstartle, a word-processing group.
It is, however, likely to compete head-on with Microsoft, which unveiled MSN Search in February.
Still, the Internet search giant hopes to use Upstartle's popular free online word-processor Writely, which uses AJAX Web applications and converts documents into Rich Text Formats and Adobe PDF standards, to boost its attractiveness for blogging.
According to Upstartle co-founder Claudia Carpenter on their company's blog, one of the main reasons for the acquisition, came as the company looked to expand to their base to millions.
"Yes, we've been acquired by Google, and we're really excited about this for many, many reasons," wrote Carpenter.
Currently, Upstartle said there are no plans to add advertising to blog pages and will temporarily begin to limit new registrations. Those interested could, however, join a waiting list.
The new territory is a follow-up to Google's recent releases including Web browser instant messaging, Google Video, Google news for mobile phones and Google page creator.
Yet the successful search-engine company has been in some heat in recent days, along with a drop in stock.
It announced it would pay $90 million to settle a lawsuit filed earlier this year that claimed the company had overcharged advertisers, as of Friday.
