NEW YORK (AP) ― Online search leader Google Inc. is taking yet another stab at social networking, as it tries to go up against Facebook in this wildly popular and lucrative segment of the Internet. This time the project is called Google+ and it aims to make online sharing more like real life.

“We think people communicate in very rich ways,” said Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of engineering at Google. “The online tools we have to choose from give us very rigid services.”

Other social networking tools make selective sharing within small groups difficult. They don’t allow for the nuances that people are used to in offline communication and because they call so many acquaintances “friends,” said Gundotra in a blog post announcing the service.