Based on https://support.google.com/groups/answer/2465464?hl=en and my experience with the user interface just now, it appears that Google Groups restored the ability to directly add members to a group.However, when I Googled for information about this, I found only articles about the removal of this ability in 2011. Is it really back? If so, did they explain why?With Yahoo! groups not restoring this ability and groupspaces.com apparently going out of business, I'm once again looking for a new home for my groups.
Did Google groups really restore the ability to directly add members to a group?
google groups
The option to directly add members to a group is indeed available again.They had removed it due to spammers misusing the feature:http://groups-announcements.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-in-google-groups.html (July 2011)Spam improvements: Starting next week, we will remove the option to  Add members directly to googlegroups.com groups since spammers have  unfortunately abused this feature. Group owners will still be able to  invite you to join their groups and you will have to accept their  invitation before you start participating in and receiving messages  from the group. Learn more here:  http://groups.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=46373I guess they made the option available again due to user pressure and by introducing or strengthening the confirmation code to avoid spammy use.