Google Apps just crossed a major milestone. Apps for Work (its Microsoft Office killer) and Google Drive for Work (its online storage service) are now being used by 2 million paying businesses, said the Google for Work chief, Amit Singh on stage Tuesday at the Web Summit in Dublin.
Google is also rolling out a bunch of new features for its Apps customers.
Perhaps the coolest new thing Google announced is a new feature to its smart mail app, Inbox, called Smart Reply.
This is a feature that actually understands your email and then suggests three quick responses for you to reply.
It uses "machine learning" to help you respond to email faster, much like the Inbox app itself, which tries to help you reduce clutter by organizing all your email into categories like promotions, trips, purchases.
Google introduced Inbox about a year ago and this is the latest smart feature it added to make email more productive. For instance, in December, Google added a feature called "Assists" which sifts through you inbox and tries to find information, reminders and stuff you need to know.
Another big new feature is a new project it calls "Recommended for Google Apps for Work."
This is like an app marketplace on steroids. It helps companies vet popular apps written by others. These apps are reviewed by Google and an independent third-party security auditor to ensure they can be safely added to Google Apps. There are six apps in the first crop of Recommended apps:
- ProsperWorks for CRM, which turns Gmail into a giant "customer relationship management" system, software used by salespeople and others to track interactions with customers and prospects.
- SmartSheet for project management
- Ringcentral & Switch for cloud-based communications telephony
- AODocs & Power tools for document management, that makes documents easier to find and share.
- Ping Identity, employee passwords and security.
- Okta, employee passwords and security.
Meanwhile, Google has also updated its Apps Marketplace to make it easier for employees to find apps that their companies have licensed for them.
And Google has integrated the Apps Marketplace with its Android app store, Google Play for Work, to make it easier for employees to find the mobile/Android versions of their work apps.
On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.
