A Brief History of Gmail

Gmail has changed the face not only of web email but of web applications in general. When Gmail was first shown in 2004 to a substantial audience of beta testers, it was quite different from what consumers had been conditioned to expect from a web application. It was the first time in history that an online email system didn't require full page reloads every time that you clicked on a new page. You could easily sort and search your mail. Storage was virtually unlimited for most users - and all for free. It's no wonder why Gmail has grown to become one of the most popular webmail applications.

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The strength of the application along with the illusion of exclusivity brought on by the use of the invitation mechanic all combined to make Gmail one of the most talked about releases in application history. The feature that allowed it to search the contents of an entire email archive using Google's search engine was one of the top draws, as was the easy-to-read "conversation" user interface that grouped together linked emails in a clear and appealing fashion. The highly effective spam filtering also made it an unusually enjoyable client to use.

One feature, however, that was and remains highly controversial, was the way that Google content spiders examine the content of all emails that enter and exit Gmail accounts and use them to tailor ad content to end users. Some have argued that this is a violation of privacy, but no humans go over the emails that are interpreted by the system. It enables Google to sell ads for higher rates than they would be able to otherwise, as they can give marketers reasonable assurance that the targeted users will at least have a passing interest in their products.