Menlo Park (ip-192.com): Google plans to add status-updates similar to Twitter to its Gmail, according to a Wall Street Journal report, citing “people familiar with the matter.” The new feature could go live as early as this week and comes at a time of hyper-competitive activity among social networking, media and search sites as they race to add features such as real-time results to attract new users.

Google already facilitates status messages that display under user names in the instant-message chat area of its webmail client. The new feature will allow Gmail users to view a stream of status updates from people they choose to connect with. It will also make it easier for users of Google’s web-based email service to share links, content and media with friends from video-sharing sites such as YouTube, and photo-sharing service Picasa. Google has refused to comment; however, it is holding a press conference on Wednesday to “unveil some new products and innovations”.

Google is facing increasing competition from the likes of Facebook and Twitter, which dominate the social web. “Anything Google does with Gmail should be seen as a defensive maneuver,” said Ray Valdes, an analyst at Gartner.

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