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Mayhem · Apr 1, 2004, 01:08

Internet search giant Google is likely to launch its electronic mail service -- Gmail -- on Thursday, says The New York Times.

It will be 'soft launched,' -- according to people involved with the plan -- in a manner that Google has followed with other features that it has added to its web site, with little fanfare and initially presented as a long-running test.

E-mail has become a crucial weapon in the competition to win the allegiance of Internet users, who often turn to one or two web sites as the foundation of their online activities, the NYT said.

Google will offer consumers better access to search their e-mail and could well upset the industry balance by offering free access to services that previously were only available by paying a monthly subscription fee, the newspaper said.

The company is planning a service to be supported by advertising that will permit its users to store very large amounts of mail at no cost.

Google's entry into the e-mail business will sharpen the lines between major portals like Yahoo and MSN, the newspaper added.

Desired · Apr 1, 2004, 01:16

Sounds pretty handy and should cut a big slice out of the MSN (Hotmail) 'market'.

AndyH · Apr 1, 2004, 01:31

It really seems like Google is trying to branch out into most of the things MSN and Yahoo! do which is good for them as these services automatically get massive recognition because of the fact that they are Google. Good on them, chances are Gmail will be much more popular if there is no "Subscribe and get x more inbox space".

ToddW · Apr 1, 2004, 01:36

I would imagine they are going to guarnatee some type of spam blockage, but in turn your pages will either have "lots" of ads or you will be forced to opt-in to receive ads in e-mail specifically from google "approved" vendors.

Also what do they consider "lots of space" 5mb? I mean the other places offer 2-5mb free? So a lot to google could be 10mb? 20mb.. still not "a lot" for people who get files.. but a sure improvement.

Mayhem · Apr 1, 2004, 01:59

Its offering a GB!!!

Mayhem · Apr 1, 2004, 02:00

More details...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif: Google, the world's No 1 Internet search provider, said on Wednesday it will begin testing a free search-based e-mail product called Gmail, as it continues striking back at rivals Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN.

The new service, which goes live on Thursday at gmail.com, will automatically organise e-mail according to topic and allow users to search their e-mail -- including sender, text and subject lines -- in the same way they search the Web, Wayne Rosing, Google's vice- president of engineering, said.

Mountain View, California-based Google also will provide one gigabyte of storage to free account holders, far more than that offered by rivals Yahoo and Microsoft's Internet unit, MSN, which each built strong user bases around free e-mail services and have been attacking Google's prominence as a Web search provider.

Google is widely expected to sell shares in an initial public offering later this year, and some in Silicon Valley had predicted the company would roll out an e-mail service to match offerings from Yahoo and MSN.

"E-mail is the killer (application) for getting people to share information," said Gary Stein, senior analyst at Jupiter Research. Such information is seen by search providers as key to delivering more personalised results.

"It's the march of Google toward being a destination," Stein said, echoing a widely held view that the company is moving closer to being an Internet portal like Yahoo and MSN, with a full range of products and services from e-mail to online shopping.

"We want to organise and present all the world's information," Rosing said, who added that the service will be formally launched in "weeks to months."

Rosing said the company has no active plans to add Gmail to the main Google.com page, as it has done with previous test programs like News and Froogle, its price-comparison shopping tool.

DaStuff · Apr 1, 2004, 02:24

Holy bejezus... Thats a lot of space...

Wonder how they plan on offering millions a gig of space for free.

does anyone know what the address will be... xxyyzz@gmail.com?

Just wondering.

Edit:

Oh i get it

Quote:

There are no pop-ups or banner ads in Gmail. Gmail does include relevant text ads that are similar to the ads appearing on the right side of Google search results pages. The matching of ads to content is a completely automated process performed by computers using the same technology that powers the Google AdSense program. This technology already places targeted ads on thousands of sites across the web by quickly analyzing the content of pages and determining which ads are most relevant to them. No humans read your email to target the ads, and no email content or other personally identifiable information is ever provided to advertisers.

It's like getting millions of clickthroughs, for free... Smart move.

smartboyinuk · Apr 1, 2004, 04:12

or is it an april fool's day joke ?

jplamb · Apr 1, 2004, 04:16

It's probably just an april fools day joke, they do one every year.

jgsketch · Apr 1, 2004, 05:08

what was it last year? I sent an email out to them asking to be part of their testing.

News story here: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg.../01/GOOGLE.TMP

jplamb · Apr 1, 2004, 06:25

Well I don't remember if this was the one from last year but they have one where they explain PR

http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html

jplamb · Apr 1, 2004, 06:39

Well I guess this year's is

http://www.google.com/jobs/lunar_job.html

It just seems odd that they're issue a press release on april fools day offering 1GB of space for free email, but maybe it is real.

caser85 · Apr 1, 2004, 08:58

http://gmail.google.com

lo0ol · Apr 1, 2004, 09:50

A gig per user seems a little nutzo.

jgsketch · Apr 1, 2004, 12:03

http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/01/tech...mail/index.htm

and www.gmail.com

I cann't wait. I tend to keep my POP3 accounts private, and use my yahoo accounts for ezines and spam. But I always run out of room because I'm a pack rat. It will be interesting to see if they offer all the same features as Hotmail and Yahoo. Otherwise, even though they are offering 1gig space, I would not change over for just that. I would want all the standard features too.

dethfire · Apr 1, 2004, 12:39

well it certaintly seems like they put alot of information and work just for an april fools joke, so I tend to think it's real, but a gig of space is crazy

samsm · Apr 1, 2004, 13:02

If they are restrictive about attachments, it will be VERY difficult for most people to anywhere close to that gig.

I don't know, sounds possible to me.

Think about it... write an email to someone about how your diet going and your email is bundled with diet ads. Email someone about hosting and you get ads for hosting. CASH MONEY

lo0ol · Apr 1, 2004, 13:44

If not for just S&G, I could see myself using it as a backup source- could just have my server email a few files every day or so.

Owen · Apr 1, 2004, 13:53

In the HTML of the www.gmail.com page:

Code:

<!-- There is no secret html on this page -->

Haha. That's great!

Owen

lo0ol · Apr 1, 2004, 14:01

Heh, good find, Owen.

Just noticed their logo- nice and clean, as always.

popads · Apr 1, 2004, 15:35

I think Google tries to provide other services, just like what Yahoo did in the 90s. Since Yahoo has dropped Google search engine, I think Goolge has to take some action on getting some visitors from Yahoo.

M. Johansson · Apr 1, 2004, 16:42

What in the nine hells is this doing in Advertising Sales and Affiliate programs? Moving to Google forum.

M. Johansson · Apr 1, 2004, 16:47

This is a VERY interesting approach to email. I constantly find myself searching through old emails, but the outlooks search engine is really slow.

M. Johansson · Apr 1, 2004, 16:53

And why does everyone think 1GB is a nutzo? Have you seen the prices of hard drives these days? The cost of an IDE hard drive is less than a US dollar per GB. One click on the word "casino" on an adsense ad in gmail, and google has earned multiple times the cost of the GB.

lo0ol · Apr 1, 2004, 16:55

Good point. One GB is just nutzo in comparison to the current trend of one or two megs. If Google does go through with this, you'd have to think others would follow suit sooner rather than later.

Apr 1, 2004, 01:08	#1
Mayhem SitePoint Zealot Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: In space Posts: 191	Google to launch email service Internet search giant Google is likely to launch its electronic mail service -- Gmail -- on Thursday, says The New York Times. It will be 'soft launched,' -- according to people involved with the plan -- in a manner that Google has followed with other features that it has added to its web site, with little fanfare and initially presented as a long-running test. E-mail has become a crucial weapon in the competition to win the allegiance of Internet users, who often turn to one or two web sites as the foundation of their online activities, the NYT said. Google will offer consumers better access to search their e-mail and could well upset the industry balance by offering free access to services that previously were only available by paying a monthly subscription fee, the newspaper said. The company is planning a service to be supported by advertising that will permit its users to store very large amounts of mail at no cost. Google's entry into the e-mail business will sharpen the lines between major portals like Yahoo and MSN, the newspaper added.

Apr 1, 2004, 13:53	#19
Owen Hi there! Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: CA Posts: 1,232	In the HTML of the www.gmail.com page: Code: <!-- There is no secret html on this page --> Haha. That's great! Owen

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Apr 1, 2004, 01:16	#2
Desired SitePoint Evangelist Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 579	Sounds pretty handy and should cut a big slice out of the MSN (Hotmail) 'market'.

Apr 1, 2004, 01:31	#3
AndyH SitePoint Addict Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 279	It really seems like Google is trying to branch out into most of the things MSN and Yahoo! do which is good for them as these services automatically get massive recognition because of the fact that they are Google. Good on them, chances are Gmail will be much more popular if there is no "Subscribe and get x more inbox space".

Apr 1, 2004, 01:36	#4
ToddW Serial Site Creator Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Folsom - CA Posts: 851	I would imagine they are going to guarnatee some type of spam blockage, but in turn your pages will either have "lots" of ads or you will be forced to opt-in to receive ads in e-mail specifically from google "approved" vendors. Also what do they consider "lots of space" 5mb? I mean the other places offer 2-5mb free? So a lot to google could be 10mb? 20mb.. still not "a lot" for people who get files.. but a sure improvement.

Apr 1, 2004, 01:59	#5
Mayhem SitePoint Zealot Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: In space Posts: 191	Its offering a GB!!!

Apr 1, 2004, 02:00	#6
Mayhem SitePoint Zealot Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: In space Posts: 191	More details... MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif: Google, the world's No 1 Internet search provider, said on Wednesday it will begin testing a free search-based e-mail product called Gmail, as it continues striking back at rivals Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN. The new service, which goes live on Thursday at gmail.com, will automatically organise e-mail according to topic and allow users to search their e-mail -- including sender, text and subject lines -- in the same way they search the Web, Wayne Rosing, Google's vice- president of engineering, said. Mountain View, California-based Google also will provide one gigabyte of storage to free account holders, far more than that offered by rivals Yahoo and Microsoft's Internet unit, MSN, which each built strong user bases around free e-mail services and have been attacking Google's prominence as a Web search provider. Google is widely expected to sell shares in an initial public offering later this year, and some in Silicon Valley had predicted the company would roll out an e-mail service to match offerings from Yahoo and MSN. "E-mail is the killer (application) for getting people to share information," said Gary Stein, senior analyst at Jupiter Research. Such information is seen by search providers as key to delivering more personalised results. "It's the march of Google toward being a destination," Stein said, echoing a widely held view that the company is moving closer to being an Internet portal like Yahoo and MSN, with a full range of products and services from e-mail to online shopping. "We want to organise and present all the world's information," Rosing said, who added that the service will be formally launched in "weeks to months." Rosing said the company has no active plans to add Gmail to the main Google.com page, as it has done with previous test programs like News and Froogle, its price-comparison shopping tool.

Apr 1, 2004, 04:12	#8
smartboyinuk SitePoint Evangelist Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Essex, UK Posts: 493	or is it an april fool's day joke ?

Apr 1, 2004, 04:16	#9
jplamb root Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Tampa Bay Posts: 725	It's probably just an april fools day joke, they do one every year.

Apr 1, 2004, 05:08	#10
jgsketch Mad Beach Bum Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: FL Posts: 813	what was it last year? I sent an email out to them asking to be part of their testing. News story here: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg.../01/GOOGLE.TMP

Apr 1, 2004, 06:25	#11
jplamb root Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Tampa Bay Posts: 725	Well I don't remember if this was the one from last year but they have one where they explain PR http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html

Apr 1, 2004, 06:39	#12
jplamb root Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Tampa Bay Posts: 725	Well I guess this year's is http://www.google.com/jobs/lunar_job.html It just seems odd that they're issue a press release on april fools day offering 1GB of space for free email, but maybe it is real.

Apr 1, 2004, 08:58	#13
caser85 SitePoint Addict Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 287	http://gmail.google.com

Apr 1, 2004, 09:50	#14
lo0ol l º 0 º l Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Palo Alto Posts: 5,536	A gig per user seems a little nutzo.

Apr 1, 2004, 12:03	#15
jgsketch Mad Beach Bum Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: FL Posts: 813	http://money.cnn.com/2004/04/01/tech...mail/index.htm and www.gmail.com I cann't wait. I tend to keep my POP3 accounts private, and use my yahoo accounts for ezines and spam. But I always run out of room because I'm a pack rat. It will be interesting to see if they offer all the same features as Hotmail and Yahoo. Otherwise, even though they are offering 1gig space, I would not change over for just that. I would want all the standard features too.

Apr 1, 2004, 12:39	#16
dethfire SitePoint Wizard Join Date: Aug 2000 Posts: 2,564	well it certaintly seems like they put alot of information and work just for an april fools joke, so I tend to think it's real, but a gig of space is crazy

Apr 1, 2004, 13:02	#17
samsm SitePoint Wizard Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Atlanta, GA, USA Posts: 5,059	If they are restrictive about attachments, it will be VERY difficult for most people to anywhere close to that gig. I don't know, sounds possible to me. Think about it... write an email to someone about how your diet going and your email is bundled with diet ads. Email someone about hosting and you get ads for hosting. CASH MONEY

Apr 1, 2004, 13:44	#18
lo0ol l º 0 º l Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Palo Alto Posts: 5,536	If not for just S&G, I could see myself using it as a backup source- could just have my server email a few files every day or so.

Apr 1, 2004, 14:01	#20
lo0ol l º 0 º l Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Palo Alto Posts: 5,536	Heh, good find, Owen. Just noticed their logo- nice and clean, as always.

Apr 1, 2004, 15:35	#21
popads SitePoint Enthusiast Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: World Posts: 45	I think Google tries to provide other services, just like what Yahoo did in the 90s. Since Yahoo has dropped Google search engine, I think Goolge has to take some action on getting some visitors from Yahoo.

Apr 1, 2004, 16:42	#22
M. Johansson Wanna-be Apple nut Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Halmstad, Sweden Posts: 7,614	What in the nine hells is this doing in Advertising Sales and Affiliate programs? Moving to Google forum.

Apr 1, 2004, 16:47	#23
M. Johansson Wanna-be Apple nut Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Halmstad, Sweden Posts: 7,614	This is a VERY interesting approach to email. I constantly find myself searching through old emails, but the outlooks search engine is really slow.

Apr 1, 2004, 16:53	#24
M. Johansson Wanna-be Apple nut Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Halmstad, Sweden Posts: 7,614	And why does everyone think 1GB is a nutzo? Have you seen the prices of hard drives these days? The cost of an IDE hard drive is less than a US dollar per GB. One click on the word "casino" on an adsense ad in gmail, and google has earned multiple times the cost of the GB.

Apr 1, 2004, 16:55	#25
lo0ol l º 0 º l Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Palo Alto Posts: 5,536	Good point. One GB is just nutzo in comparison to the current trend of one or two megs. If Google does go through with this, you'd have to think others would follow suit sooner rather than later.