With Google killing its social network for consumers and brands last week, the service is now solely focussed on enterprise customers. To usher in that new era, Google+ was rebranded to Google Currents at Cloud Next 2019.

This is not Google’s first product to feature that name, with the original being a magazine app. Launched in 2011, it was replaced two years later with Play Newsstand — now Google News, which combined Play Magazines and Currents.

Businesses often have an internal need for a communication service that is less formal than email. Google imagines Currents as a way for “employees to share knowledge and engage in meaningful discussions with others across their organization, regardless of title or geography.”

On Currents, employees can easily see discussions that are trending in their organization and follow topics of interest. Currents is available in beta today.

The user interface and experience is mostly unchanged, with the home stream ordered by relevance. Posts from leadership can be given priority in the home stream, with the option to also view content in a reverse chronological order.

Meanwhile, users can tag their posts and attach relevant attachments or images, with analytics available for each item in Currents.

The new enterprise social network is still in beta, with admins able to request access by emailing CurrentsBeta@google.com.

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