Google caused a great deal of excitement when they announced that they would be offering a 1GB space email account service called Gmail. This new service offering from the most popular search engine was surprising and there was a lot of speculation during the first few days as to why Google wanted to get in the fray - after all we have tons and tons of free email service providers along with the big guns, Hotmail, Yahoo!, Lycos etc.

Gmail opens up for all - Anyone can now get a Gmail address
February of 2007 is going to be remembered as the month when the gates of Gmail were opened for everyone. Read more about this and get yourself an account if you don't have one already.
Gmail opens for everyone - get your free Gmail account and also Configure Gmail account in Outlook Express email client.

A note on the Google search engine

We all have come to love Google's search engine. In the days of "super crowded" search engine homepages, Google's single field search form was simplicity personified - And we all loved it, didn't we? After all, if you want to search for something on the net all what was required was one text field (in which the users type their search phrase) and a submit button. This idea had not struck other search engines and directories (tongue in cheek remark). All of them had loads and loads of other stuff like banners, news, email account login fields, graphics etc. on the search pages. [And most of them still do!]

In any case, Google's idea of providing a very simple net search interface was a hit. The page had no advertising - just one search text field and a couple of search buttons. More importantly, the search results generated by the Google search engine, were as good (if not better) that others. The popularity of Google grew and grew and now it is the most popular search engine on the Internet. However, is the most popular site? Not according to the surveys - www.comscore.com. You can also check how the Google site ranks at Alexa - www.Alexa.com.

Why has Google come up with the Gmail service?

Sites like Yahoo!, MSN, and still very popular. A reason for this can be the other services offered by these sites, such as Chat programs, free email accounts etc. I guess, Google would have understood that a free email account is something that will always attract net surfers. However, there was loads of competition and so Google came up with a shiner - 1 free 1GB email account. In addition to this, Gmail accounts were not open to all. Only those with special invitations could get a Gmail account. Thus, Google employees and other Gmail account holders can invite someone to sign-up for an account. The exclusivity of Gmail has really made it special! There are Gmail invitations being sold on ebay.com (a somewhat cheap business idea, in my opinion).

The reasons for offering a 1GB email account by Google are clear - Google wants to be the most popular site on the Internet and wants to beat all email service providers. But how will Gmail help Google in generating more business? After all, 1GB is a lot of space. Actually, with disk space becoming cheaper each day (and prices are predicted to plummet further), 1GB is not very expensive. Google plans to deliver ads (via its Adwords/Adsense technology) on Gmail. [Click here if you want to read more about Google's Adsense technology]
Adsense would scan the email and list probable keywords. Based on these keywords, the ad would be displayed. Thus, while reading an email, you would see ads relevant to the contents of the email. This is a blow to the privacy laws? If you look at it one way, it is a major invasion on privacy, but what the hell, you do get an excellent online email service from one of the web giants.

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