Google has launched a beta of its Google Finance news site which bundles near real-time stock quotes and news links. 

The offering is slightly different to competing services, providing an interactive chart that pinpoints specific events such as the publication of a press release or news story about a company.

Google Finance also features an interactive chart that allows the user to scroll through previous share prices.

One of the most significant changes is that users no longer need to know a company's ticker symbol (such as YHOO for Yahoo) to find the relevant financial information.

Google used to link to third-party websites when users performed a search query for a ticker symbol. While the third-party web links are still available, the first one now links to the Google Finance page.

However, the new service has failed to excite most industry observers. "From a consumer perspective it's not an Earth-shattering event," noted Asaf Buchner, an associate analyst with Jupiter Research. "For now, it's just another place where consumers can research stocks." 

Buchner suggested that Google Finance is primarily aimed at keeping visitors within Google's network instead of referring them to competitors.

Near real-time financial information was previously the preserve of companies such as Reuters and Bloomberg.