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Since not many people use Google Apps, Google Sites – which was tucked away inside – never mattered much.  It’s now been brought into the open, though, and Google is championing the product as a good way for individuals to collaborate.

For starters, setting up a website with Google Sites is free.  Working on any particular page should be extremely easy thanks to a WYSIWYG editor, and documents, photos, videos, calendars, and gadgets can all be embedded into pages from there.  Also, users can add as many pages to a site as they want.

Then, on the Official Google Blog, Andrew Zaeske explains, “Once your site is up and running, inviting people to edit or view your content is as simple as entering in their email address (of course, you can change access levels at any time).”  Default settings should allow everyone to view things, “And you (or anyone who has editing privileges) can add or edit information whenever you’d like.”

Perhaps this approach isn’t revolutionary (the term “wiki” comes to mind), but it’s certainly interesting.  Google Sites adds to the sort of circle of Google products that aims to make other sources of software and services unnecessary.  (Google Sites addresses will, by the way, look like http://sites.google.com/[your-website].)

The Google Sites Blog was launched in conjunction with the wide release.  Stay tuned to it if Google Sites becomes one of your go-to resources.