Google Groups is a free service for communicating ,discussing and sharing ideas through email or at the website.You can create ,manage or browse groups to seek or give opinions,advice,resources or information.Like several other group sites on the net it has all the basic features –search for topics on your interest or browse for information posted on the groups.
On Dec 2 ,2004 Google launched Groups Beta with a new look and improvements over the earlier groups.The new Beta enables mailing lists and public discussions .You can bookmark topics that interest you and receive replies on starred topics on your group page.To log in and sign for groups all you need is a Google account.Each group has its own email address so that members can get updates and stay in touch with the group.

Create and Manage your Group
1.Set up a group by filling in relevant information and selecting the access level(public announcement only or restricted).
2.Add members either directly or by sending an invitation to join the group.

Group settings
Your group settings can be edited any time-
1.General
Group name ,Description,Web address and Group email
2.Appearance:
You can change the look of your group to one of the nine optionsand customize the fonts and colours of the sidebars.
3.Access Rights:
any changes you might want in members access rights can be made under this menu.
4.Navigation:
The navigation order and visibility of the group connections are customizable .If you have public access to your group,you can hide the member list by clicking on the Hide next to it on the page.The subsections can be renamed from here.
5.Categories :
Selection of a category for your group is made from this option.Select a category by topic or region.If your choice is not listed you can search from the search box.
Advanced :
Advanced options include selecting a primary language for the group and deleting the group.The group can also act as a remote archive for the mail lists hosted on other services.

Groups settings help customize the functioning of the group activities according to the options selected.Management tasks below Group settings on the menu bar help in the management of pending messages and members of the group.You can also edit your membership in the group,in which you can edit your e mail settings and your nickname in the group.
Search for a Group
If you are looking for a group on a particular topic,region,language,activity level or number of users ,you can use the group Directory.Google Groups includes the Usenet newsgroups each of which has subgroups .Such Groups and Subgroups are separated by a fullstop for instance comp.windows.vista.Here “comp” is the group, “windows” is the subgroup,and “vista” is the topic for which that particular group was created .

In conclusion

Groups are communities created by and for people with similar ideas and tastes and for sharing information and resources,Posting messages ,searching ,customizing group pages and browsing groups have improved under Google Groups Beta.