Google announces Web mail service APR 01 2004
Google announces Web mail service. May or may not be an April Fools joke
There are 22 reader comments
14 01 2004 8:14AM
Yep, it's legit. It's not ready to go quite yet, tho. They will let us know by email.
21 01 2004 8:21AM
Google Copernicus is their genuine April Fools this year.
55 01 2004 8:55AM
Bryan: Yeah, and on March 31st no less.
56 01 200411:56AM
THey are going to scan the content of each e-mail and then attach a text message advertisement related to that topic. If you are discussing a concert then they will send an ad for Ticketmaster.
Which sucks. But you do get a GIG of free space. Which is nice.
14 01 200412:14PM
I'm sure it's an April's Fool joke.
1 GB of free email space ?
With the popularity of Google, you're talking millions of users from day one. That's a shitload of diskspace.
This joke makes mine more believable than reality.
41 01 200412:41PM
It's definitely an April Fool's Joke--look at Kevin Fox's post on the subject (not the "ha ha" category and the fact that he says "I love this time of year")...
http://www.fury.com/article/1988.php
22 01 2004 1:22PM
i hate trying to read news online on april 1.
07 01 2004 5:07PM
G-Mail isn't an april fools, it makes PERFECT sense, so much sense that I wish I had come up with the idea myself. First off, 1gb of space isn't storage space for all your precious files, it is for email. This email is supposed to accumulate over time. However, at its onset, no one will use more than a few megs, so space isn't an issue. PLUS over time storage is becoming cheaper and cheaper and cheaper... so 1 gig will eventually cost something like a buck or less for them.
So think of it this way, they are selling a TARGETTED ad on each email, with a gig worth of email, we are looking at 50,000+ emails per user. If they even make a nickel per ad (which would be high, but work with me), then you are looking at a minimum of $2,500 per user in revenue over time. (even at a penny, it is still alot more than their costs, and they keep users away from yahoo, etc.).
Genius i tell you, genius.
46 02 200412:46AM
I hope it's not a joke either... I currently use yahoo email, and it stinks. Not only does yahoo show tons of ads, but they are constantly flashing huge banners "you are running out of space... blah blah" (too lazy to delete old email) pay $$ for megs of space.. etc.. I'll take targeted ads any day. In fact sometimes the ads are quite useful.
57 02 2004 2:57AM
Looks like this is for real, lol
I just love google
17 02 2004 6:17AM
Brian Breslin: yes, you are right in that space becomes cheaper, but size that people need increases.
54 02 200410:54AM
Hm, it looks like Mr. Kottke has a gmail account already. Damn you, Jason!
55 02 200411:55AM
someone: i know that space needs increase, but no one gets a gig of mail in a year if you get my drift. When they add customers, they don't buy 1GB and dedicate that to them immediately, they throw their account on the server w/thousands of others, and when they need more space, they add it to the server, not setup 1GB parcels for each right at the outset. I ranted about this on my site: http://www.polirant.com with everything from my projections as to how much $ they can make, etc.
06 02 2004 8:06PM
Coming from google themselves, the data storage will cost about $1/gb. This is pretty cheap considering noone will use that much early on at least, with adwords they think they'll be able to pay it off easily. I'm not sure if the $1 is Australian or American, I believe I read that in america you can get a gigabyte for 50c, on average.
48 02 200411:48PM
Oh great, now when my girlfriend emails me about breaking up, Google will send me ads for dating services.
24 03 2004 5:24PM
There is now a link on the g-mail page - saying 'Happy Birthday April' with a picture of a couple embracing!
What the hell is that all about? Another hint at an April fool?
43 03 200411:43PM
Who is April? ok, she has something to do with google... maybe the male in the photo could first be identified?
50 04 2004 4:50AM
Now I'm beginning to think: maybe the fact that it's a joke is the April Fools joke itself.
27 05 2004 2:27PM
Rob Glaser and Bill Gates seem to have accounts as well. Hmm.
29 05 2004 6:29PM
how do you see who has accounts? or do you have an account already?
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.
Bryan11 01 2004 8:11AM
If that's the case, the joke is on the NYT, CNet, Slashdot and Yahoo! News, because they all ran stories about it.