According to marketing research company
ComScore, Google Gmail recently became the third largest email provider in the U.S., growing from 25 to almost 37 million users -- an increase of over 45 percent in just one year!
Yahoo! Mail, however, still leads the pack with over 106 million U.S. visitors in July. The big news, however, is that
Gmail surpassed AOL to take the #3 spot and is reportedly closing in on Windows Live Hotmail at #2. Unless the release of Windows 7 delays the inevitable, analysts expect Gmail to overtake Hotmail by Q1 of 2010.
Some say Gmail's staggering growth is attributable in part to Google's reputation for non-stop innovation. The search engine giant gave Microsoft a wake-up call with Google Apps, which includes online applications like
Google Docs and
Google Calendar, and since opening
Gmail Labs last year, the company has delivered new Gmail features almost on a weekly basis.
Gmail used to be available by invitation only, but now it's out of beta and open to everyone. Unlike some of its competitors, ads do not appear in messages nor does Google append headers or footers to outgoing messages.
You don't have to worry about deleting old messages with
Gmail. The service provides ever-increasing amounts of storage space. The limit used to be 2 GB, but now it seems to increase every month. The last time I checked, I had over 7 gigs.
Message tagging is one of Gmail's most popular features. Messages are automatically organized by conversation, rather than by in-box arrival date. The technique is so popular that Microsoft has added
conversation management to Outlook in Microsoft Office 2010.
The service automatically blocks spam and viruses, but it's easy to report anything it misses. False positives are also easy to correct. Searching saved messages automatically ignores messages in spam or trash folders, so highly relevant search results are the norm.
Many users still prefer Outlook Express or Windows Mail to webmail clients. Google makes it easy to use a POP3 or IMAP email program to access Gmail. This is especially useful when your computer is connected to a network other than one provided by your ISP.
In most cases, if your email client is configured to use your ISP's SMTP server for outgoing email, you will not be able to send email when your computer is connected to a foreign network, such as when you're in a hotel or at school. You usually have to resort to a webmail client.
Gmail, however, allows you to use secure SSL/TLS on ports 465 and 995 to access its servers from any Internet connection. For more information, see "
Enabling POP" in Gmail Help. You can also configure Gmail's web client to use secure HTTPS, which is a good idea if you frequently check your email in coffee shops. For more information, see "
HTTPS Access" in Gmail Help.
The service is now available even you're offline. With
Offline Gmail, you can still access your messages and use Gmail when you’re not connected to the Internet. Any messages sent while you're offline will be placed in your outbox and automatically uploaded the next time Gmail detects a connection.
Keeping track of all the features in Gmail isn't easy. In fact, even if you're a longtime Gmail user, it pays to visit
Gmail Tips occasionally, just to see what's new. I also highly recommend the reading Google's two-page guide, "
Becoming a Gmail Ninja," if you want to achieve utmost Gmail proficiency.
What if you're using another service? The thought of switching email providers scares a lot of people, but Gmail makes it easy to import messages and contacts from Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL, and local ISPs. The import feature is available from the
Accounts and Import tab under
Settings.
Once you import your old email and contacts into Gmail, you can even have your messages forwarded from your old account for 30 days, giving you time to decide whether Gmail is right for you. You can also auto-forward your Gmail messages to any other services.
Some say that using Gmail presents privacy issues. Free services have to make money somehow, and Gmail is no exception. Sponsored links appear to the right of each Gmail message, which Google targets based on message content and other factors, the same way ads appear alongside Google search results.
The links are generated automatically, which means messages are scanned, even if not by human eyes. For privacy watchdogs, it's a deal-breaker, and who can say they're wrong?
Nevertheless, based on Gmail's meteoric rise in popularity, it appears the majority of Americans clearly are willing to take their chances with a company that does so many things right.
