Google forgot of Jaiku, the social networking, micro-blogging and lifestreaming service purchased by Google in 2007, and wants now to compete with Linden's Second Life.

Lively, available in Google Labs, like Second Life, need a software to be downloaded and installed in your computer (only Windows, for now), and it uses the common browser for the members (it is, in fact, a plug-in for browsers).

Google does not consider it as an alternative life, but as an cyber improvement of your existing life. For this, it uses the existing photos and videos on Internet, or you can embed the Lively area into your content using Google widgets.

Lively helps you to design your own virtual space and share it with the others.

Google Official Blog says that "if you enter a Lively room embedded on your favorite blog or website, you can immediately get a sense of the room creator's interests, just by looking at the furniture and environment they chose. You can also express your own personality by customizing your avatar's look, showing people who you are without having to say a word. Of course, you can chat with each other, and you can also interact through animated actions.“

"Our intent is to be part of the users' everyday experience," said Niniane Wang, an engineering manager at Google with contribution in designing Lively. "We designed it to be easy to use."

For the moment, Lively does not allow any commercial use of this virtual world.