New Google Email Features Put Added Pressure On Yahoo
Google Mail has developed a stable of new features to lure users away from Yahoo’s email service, including one that gives its users time to reconsider what they are about to send.
The new Gmail feature makes a user solve a math problem before sending an email, giving them time to rethink it, Reuters reported.
The Internet search engine is also enhancing its advertising in an attempt to take market share away from Yahoo. Google makes money every time email users click on ads.
comScore, which tracks Internet data, showed that unique visitors to Google’s sites increased 32 percent worldwide to more than 775 million last year.
Data showed that Yahoo had a 16 percent gain to 562.6 million visitors and Microsoft had a 20 percent increase to about 647 million visitors.
Google’s visitor growth has been attributed to the increasingly new email features that are being developed by the company’s Gmail Labs.
Gmail recently unveiled a feature that allows its users to automatically download mail so they can read it offline in a Web browser.
In the seven months since Gmail Labs launched in June, engineers have created and posted 34 experimental features, but they acknowledged many of those features are for more adventurous Gmail users because the rapid addition of them means they may not work smoothly or that they will last.
Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler said Gmail is able to improve the products much faster than anyone else.
Features like "Mail Goggles" help users avoid sending regrettable email or instant messaging Gchat messages, by making them pass a simple math test before sending.
Another feature pops up a reminder to users who forget to upload promised attachments. And another lets users send free SMS (short message service) messages to friends via Gchat.
Gmail users can find the new features under "Labs" on the main Gmail account page in the upper right corner under "Settings".
A recent experiment coded by Google engineer Dave Cohen lets users add a photo next to a friend’s conversation in a chat window. Users were able to start using the feature within a few weeks.
“It used to be hard to take an idea you had and get it out there," said Cohen. “But Gmail Labs has increased our freedom and flexibility, and we can do more at a whim when there’s something you really want to add.”
The quick development of so many experimental features puts added pressure on Yahoo, Time Warner and Microsoft.
A "Send Feedback" link in each experimental feature allows users to make suggestions directly to the developer on how to make improvements.
Product manager Keith Coleman said they never had that kind of direct feedback between engineers and users until now.
“Now, we have engineers looking at the raw feedback that they are getting.”
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