The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google plans to launch a new ‘updates’ service this Wednesday which will be seen my the industry as a move to compete with social media services including Twitter and Facebook. The move will will allow the 176m Gmail users to view a stream of status updates from people they choose to connect with. It will also make it easier links and content.

PSFK noticed last week that our content by our Gmail contacts was already showing up in our search results (pictured above). This move could signify a greater dynamic between personal content and real-time search.

Wall Street Journal