SAN FRANCISCO (Bloomberg) - Google Inc. is dropping the "beta", or test, label from its Gmail e-mail service and other online programmes to attract business customers away from Microsoft Corp.

The label will also be removed from Google Docs, Google Calendar and Google Talk, said Matthew Glotzbach, director of product management for Google Enterprise. Google used the label to show it was still improving the software.

Removing the label lets Google target companies that have concerns about the reliability of programmes that are in a test phase, Mr. Glotzbach said. Google, grappling with a slump in advertising spending, tries to sell more software to generate revenue outside of search-based ads. In the first quarter, the company had its first sequential sales drop since 2004.

"I've had CIOs tell me that the beta label is a real problem for them because as a policy they don't deploy beta software to their enterprise," Mr. Glotzbach said, referring to chief information officers.

Gmail has been in beta since it was introduced five years ago. Google products that have already dropped the label include the Chrome web browser, unveiled in September. Google Scholar, which lets users search for scholarly papers, is in beta, as is its product search.

Google, owner of the world's most popular search engine, fell $7.72 to $401.89 at 10.46 a.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The Mountain View, California-based company's shares had climbed 33 percent this year before yesterday.

Google's business software provides more support and services than its consumer versions.

The programmes are accessed through the web, just as its search engine is. A package that includes Gmail, calendar, spreadsheets, word processing and other services costs $50 a year per user for business customers.

Customers include Genentech Inc., a unit of pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG, and Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc.