Google Gets the Message, Launches Gmail
User Complaint About Existing Services Leads
Google to Create Search-Based Webmail
Search is Number Two Online Activity – Email is Number One;
"Heck, Yeah," Say Google Founders
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - April 1, 2004 UTC - Amidst
rampant media speculation, Google Inc. today announced it is testing
a preview release of Gmail – a free search-based webmail
service with a storage capacity of up to eight billion bits of
information, the equivalent of 500,000 pages of email. Per user.
The inspiration for Gmail came from a Google user complaining
about the poor quality of existing email services, recalled Larry
Page, Google co-founder and president, Products. "She kvetched
about spending all her time filing messages or trying to find
them," Page said. "And when she's not doing that, she has to delete
email like crazy to stay under the obligatory four megabyte limit.
So she asked, 'Can't you people fix this?'"
The idea that there could be a better way to handle email caught
the attention of a Google engineer who thought it might be a good
"20 percent time" project. (Google requires engineers to spend
a day a week on projects that interest them, unrelated to their
day jobs). Millions of M&Ms later, Gmail was born.
"If a Google user has a problem with email, well, so do we," said
Google co-founder and president of technology, Sergey Brin. "And
while developing Gmail was a bit more complicated than we anticipated,
we're pleased to be able to offer it to the user who asked for
it."
Added Page, "Gmail solves all of my communication needs. It's
fast and easy and has all the storage I need. And I can use it
from anywhere. I love it!"
Today, a handful of users will begin testing the preview version
of Gmail. Unlike other free webmail services, Gmail is built on
the idea that users should never have to file or delete a message,
or struggle to find an email they've sent or received. Key features
of Gmail include:
- Search: Built on Google
search technology, Gmail enables people to quickly search every
email they've ever sent or received. Using keywords or advanced
search features, Gmail users can find what they need, when they
need it.
- Storage: Google believes
people should be able to hold onto their mail forever. That's
why Gmail comes with 1,000 megabytes (1 gigabyte) of free storage
– more than 100 times what most other free webmail services
offer.
- Speed: Gmail makes using
email faster and more efficient by eliminating the need to file
messages into folders, and by automatically organizing individual
emails into meaningful "conversations" that show messages in
the context of all the replies sent in response to them. And
it turns annoying spam e-mail messages into the equivalent of
canned meat.
According to Page and Brin, Google will make
the preview test version of Gmail available to a small number
of email aficionados. With luck, Gmail will prove popular to them
– and to the original user who sparked the idea.
Those interested in learning more about Gmail can visit http://gmail.google.com.
About Google Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people
around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by
Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today
is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted
advertising program, which is the largest and fastest growing
in the industry, provides businesses of all sizes with measurable
results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users.
Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout
North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.
###
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other company and product names
may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they
are associated.
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