With this move, Google, which announced in May its intention to do this, further extends the functionality of Apps, which for a time was criticized for being relatively narrow in scope.

A major first step in remedying that situation was Google's launch in March of the Apps Marketplace, where third-party vendors can sell complementary applications that are also pre-integrated at a technology level with Apps, including single sign-on and other links.

Google is also announcing a re-branding of the suite's editions. The Standard edition will now be called simply Apps, while the Premier and Education editions will be called, respectively, Apps for Business and Apps for Education.