Google Apps users get a handy new feature in the form of “Apps Search,” a new entrant to Google Labs that lets you find keywords in Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Sites. But is it too little, too late?

The idea is simple: enabling Apps Search in the experimental Labs options turns Gmail’s “Search Mail” button into “Search Mail and Docs,” according to Google’s blog entry. Conveniently, it has the same spelling suggestions as the Google search engine, helping find documents even when you misspell a word.

When Zoho launched their unified SaaS search, I called Google out for letting their competitor get the jump on them with a simple-but-powerful tool. But now that Google launched theirs, a feature-by-feature checklist shows Google’s offering is still lacking — no previews, no actionable results, and at least at first glance it doesn’t appear to search contacts, either.

So while Google’s on the right track with Apps Search, a tool that’s surely going to save users a lot of time, they have a little ways to go yet. It’s just strange coming from a house that search built.

Sign up for The VAR Guy’s Newsletter; Webcasts and Resource Center; and via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter and VARtweet.