Google has released a new version of its Blogger service, adding privacy settings that restrict readership to a predetermined audience.

The company said that users could choose to have blogs accessible to anyone or just to themselves; or they could list the e-mail addresses of the people they want to let in. And those readers would need to register for a free Google account, the same used for its Gmail and other services, and would sign in with their regular Google passwords.

It is learnt that several blogging competitors already offer privacy options, and in fact, Blogger also used to offer a password option through a premium service but that is no longer available.

Google has begun offering new privacy features this week, although it is gradually converting existing Blogger users to the upgrade. The offering comes as potential employers, mates, and others increasingly try to screen people by checking out their blogs, social-networking profiles, and other Internet postings.

Additionally, Google is offering some users of its Blogger Web site access to this new version of the blog hosting service allowing user-definable templates, tagging of posts, multiple authors, and faster publication of new posts. It will also integrate use of the blogging service more closely with other services, through changes to the account log-in process.

According to Google, the new features will only be available to users who log in using a Google account, not their Blogger account, and only a small percentage of users will be invited to switch their accounts over initially.

Google also said that the account change does not affect the content of blogs, or users' Blogger profiles, and will make it easier to use Google services like AdWords. The two account systems will run parallel for a while, but eventually Google will remove the option to log in with a Blogger account. Google Accounts are better protected against fraud, impersonation, and abuse than Blogger accounts.

Among other changes to the service, Google will enable drag-and-drop creation of site layouts, add support for RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 feeds so that more readers can follow a blog without having to visit its Web site, and allow authors to restrict access to their blog to certain users.