Internet giant's latest project aims to add granularity to online relationships. Google on Wednesday launched a fresh assault on the social networking space with a new project designed to chip away at Facebook's dominance.

Called Google+, the new service's primary point of differentiation lies in its ability to let users classify contacts into different groups, therefore allowing people to control who sees what when it comes to sharing information online.

"The problem is that today's online services turn friendship into fast food – wrapping everyone in 'friend' paper – and sharing really suffers," wrote Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president of engineering, in a blog post. "People in fact share selectively all the time – with their circles."

As well as organising online relationships, Google+ also provides a newsfeed-style stream of online content based on users' interests that can be shared and discussed among contacts. What's more, Google's social network also includes a feature that enables people to engage in multi-person video chats.

Naturally Google+ includes a number of mobile-specific features that allow people to share their location and photographs with contacts while they are out and about, and 'Huddle' – a group messaging service designed to help groups of friends coordinate their movements.

Google has opted for a soft launch with its latest foray into social networking – the opportunity to join Google+ is by invitation only.

Google+ marks the Internet giant's most direct assault yet on the social networking space, after a number of misfires including Google Wave and Google Buzz failed to gain traction. Therefore there is widespread scepticism over whether the search giant can make a meaningful impact in a sector dominated by the likes of Facebook and Twitter.