Gmail is an ad-supported, free email service developed by Google. Users can access Gmail on the web and use third-party programs that sync email content via POP or IMAP protocol. Gmail started as a limited beta release on April 1, 2004, and ended the pilot phase on July 7, 2009.
At launch, Gmail had an initial storage capacity offering of one gigabyte per user, a much higher number than the competitors had offered at the time. Currently, the service comes with 15 GB of storage. Users can receive up to 50 megabytes of email, including attachments, while they can send up to 25 megabytes of email. To send larger files, users can insert files from Google Drive into messages. Gmail has a search-oriented interface and a "conversation view" similar to an Internet forum. This service is well known among website developers for early adoption of Ajax.
Google's email servers automatically scan email for various purposes, including to filter spam and malware, and add context-sensitive ads next to email. This advertising practice has been significantly criticized by privacy advocates due to fears of unlimited data retention, ease of monitoring by third parties, other email provider users who disagree with the policy after sending an email to a Gmail address, and Google's potential to change its policies to further reduce privacy by combining information with other Google data usage. The company has been the subject of a lawsuit related to the matter. Google has stated that email users should "always expect" their email to submit to automated processing, and claim that the service refrains from showing ads alongside potentially sensitive messages, such as those mentioning race, religion, sexual orientation, health, or finance statement. In June 2017, Google announced the upcoming end for the use of Gmail's contextual content for advertising purposes, relying on data collected from the use of other services.
Starting July 2017, Gmail has 1.2 Ã, billion active users worldwide, and is the first app on the Google Play Store to achieve one billion installations on Android devices. By 2014 forecasts, 60% of US midsize companies, and 92% of startups, use Gmail.
Video Gmail
Features
Storage
On April 1, 2004, Gmail was launched with one gigabyte (GB) of storage space, a much higher number than the competitors offered at the time.
On April 1, 2005, Gmail's first birthday, the limit was doubled to two gigabytes of storage. Georges Harik, director of product management for Gmail, stated that Google will "continue to give people more space forever."
On April 24, 2012, Google announced increased storage included in Gmail from 7.5 to 10 gigabytes ("and" continue to grow ") as part of Google Drive launch.
On May 13, 2013, Google announced a combined overall storage in Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos, which allows users of 15 GB of storage included among the three services.
Users can purchase additional storage, shared between Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos, via monthly subscription plans. In 2017, up to 15 gigabytes of storage is included, and a paid plan is available up to 30Ã, terabyte for personal use.
There is also a storage limit for every Gmail message. One message, including all attachments, should not be larger than 25 megabytes. This was changed in March 2017, to allow email reception up to 50 megabytes, with a limit to send emails live at 25 megabytes. To send larger files, users can insert files from Google Drive into messages.
Interface
The Gmail user interface was originally different from other webmail systems with a focus on search and email editing conversations, grouping messages between two or several people onto a single page, an approach copied by competitors. The designer of the Gmail user interface, Kevin Fox, is meant to feel as if they are always on one page and just changing things on the page, rather than having to navigate elsewhere.
The Gmail interface also leverages 'labels' (tags) - which replace conventional folders and provide more flexible email organizing methods; filter to automatically set, delete or forward incoming email to another address; and important markers to automatically mark messages as 'important'.
redesign 2011
In November 2011, Google began launching a redesign of its interface that "simplified" Gmail's look into a more minimalist design to provide a more consistent look across its products and services as part of overall Google design changes. The redesigned primary elements include efficient conversation view, configurable density information, newer high-quality themes, customizable navigation bars with labels and contacts that are always visible, and better searches. Users can view the new interface design for months before the official release, as well as return to the old interface, until March 2012, when Google stops the ability to restore and complete the transition to a new design for all users.
Tabbed Inbox
In May 2013, Google updated the Gmail inbox with tabs that allowed apps to categorize users' mail. The five tabs are: Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums. In addition to the customization options, all updates can be disabled, allowing users to return to the traditional inbox structure.
2018 redesign
In April 2018, Google introduced a new web UI for Gmail, available by opting for all Gmail users. The new redesign follows Google Material Design, and changes in the UI include the use of the Google Sans Product font. Other updates include Secret mode , which allows the sender to set a sensitive email expiration date or revoke it completely, unified rights management, and two-factor authentication.
Spam filter
Gmail spam filtering displays community driven systems: when there are users who mark emails as spam, this provides information to help the system identify similar messages in the future for all Gmail users.
On April 2018 update the spam filtering banner gets redesigned, with bigger and bolder letters.
Gmail Lab
The Gmail Lab feature, introduced on June 5, 2008, lets users test new or experimental features of Gmail. Users can activate or deactivate the Labs feature selectively and provide feedback about each feature. This allows Gmail engineers to get user feedback about new features to improve it as well as to assess their popularity.
Popular features, such as the "Undo Send" option, often "pass" from Gmail Labs to be a formal setting in Gmail.
All Labs features are experimental and can be stopped anytime.
Search
Gmail merges the search bar to search for emails. The search bar can also search for contacts, files stored in Google Drive, events from Google Calendar, and Google Sites.
As of May 2012, Gmail enhanced the search function to include auto-complete predictions from user email.
The Gmail search function does not support searching for word fragments (also known as 'substring search' or partial search words). There is work.
Language support
In March 2015, the Gmail interface supports 72 languages ​​including: Arabic, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (English), English (US), Estonian, Finland, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malayalam, Malayalam, Marathi, Norway (BokmÃÆ'  ¥ l), Odia, Poland, Hungary, Punjabi, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog (Filipino), Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh and Zulu.
Language input style
In October 2012, Google added more than 100 virtual keyboards, transliteration, and input method editors to Gmail, allowing users different types of input styles for different languages ​​in an effort to help users write in languages ​​that are not "limited by your keyboard language."
In October 2013, Google added handwriting input support to Gmail.
In August 2014, Gmail became the first major email provider to allow users to send and receive emails from addresses with accents and letters from outside the Latin alphabet.
Maps Gmail
Platform
Web browsers
Gmail's basic "HTML" version will work in most browsers. The modern AJAX version is officially supported in the current and previous major releases of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge and Safari web browsers on a rolling basis.
In August 2011, Google introduced Offline Gmail, an HTML5 supported app to provide access to the service while offline. Offline Gmail runs in the Google Chrome browser and can be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store.
In addition to native apps on iOS and Android, users can access Gmail via a web browser on their mobile device.
Mobile
Gmail has native apps for iOS devices (including iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch) and for Android devices.
In November 2014, Google introduced a functionality in the Gmail Android app that allows sending and receiving emails from non-Gmail addresses (such as Yahoo! Mail and Outlook.com) via POP or IMAP.
In November 2016, Google redesigned the Gmail app for the iOS platform, bringing the first complete visual fix in "almost four years". The update adds more color usage, smoother transitions, and the addition of some highly requested features, including Undo Send, faster search with instant results and spelling suggestions, and Scroll to Archive/Delete.
In May 2017, Google updated Gmail on Android to showcase protection from phishing attacks. Media outlets noticed that new protection was announced amid widespread phishing attacks on a combination of Gmail and Google Document document services that occurred on the same day.
Then in May, Google announced the addition of "Smart Replies" to Gmail on Android and iOS. "Smart Replies", a feature originally launched for Google Inbox by Gmail service, scans messages for information and uses machine intelligence to offer three user-editable and user-sent responses. This feature is limited to English at launch, with upcoming support for Spanish, followed by other languages ​​later.
Inbox by Gmail, another app from the Gmail team, is also available for iOS and Android devices.
Third party programs can be used to access Gmail, using POP or IMAP protocol.
Inbox by Gmail
In October 2014, Google introduced Inbox by Gmail by invitation only. Developed by the Gmail team, but functioning as a "completely different type of inbox", the service was created to help users deal with challenges from active email. Citing problems such as interruptions, difficulty in finding important information buried in messages, and receiving more emails than ever, Inbox by Gmail has several important differences from Gmail, including bundles that automatically sort emails from the same topic together, highlighting that the main surface information of the message, and reminders, help, and snooze, which helps the user in handling incoming mail at the right time.
Inbox by Gmail became publicly available in May 2015.
Integration with Google products
In August 2010, Google released a plugin that provides integrated phone service within the Google Chat Gmail interface. This feature initially has no official name, with Google calling it "Google Voice in Gmail chat" and "Phone Calls in Gmail". This service records over a million calls in 24 hours. In March 2014, Google Voice was discontinued, and replaced with the functionality of Google Hangouts, another communication platform from Google.
On February 9, 2010, Google started its new social networking tool, Google Buzz, which integrates with Gmail, allowing users to share links and media, and status updates. Google Buzz was discontinued in October 2011, replaced with a new functionality on Google, Google's new social networking platform.
Gmail integrates with Google in December 2011, as part of an effort to have all of Google's information in one Google account, with a central Google user profile. Rejecting that step causes Google to back out and remove Google user account requirements, by simply storing a private Google account without a publicly viewed profile, starting July 2015.
In May 2013, Google announced an integration between Google Wallet and Gmail, which will allow Gmail users to send money as email attachments. Although the sender must use a Gmail account, the recipient does not need to use a Gmail address. This feature has no transaction costs, but there is a limit on the amount of money that can be sent. Initially available on the web only, the feature was expanded to Android apps in March 2017, for people living in the United States.
In September 2016, Google released Google Trips , an app that, based on information from users' Gmail messages, automatically generates a travel card. Travel cards contain detailed schedules, such as airfare and car rental, and recommend activities, meals and drinks, as well as attractions based on location, time, and interests. This app also has an offline function. In April 2017, Google Trip received an update that added some important features. The app now also scans Gmail for bus and train tickets, and allows users to manually enter travel reservations. Users can send travel details to other users' emails, and if the recipient also has a Google Travel, that information will be automatically available in their app as well.
Security
History
Google has supported HTTPS securely since the day it was launched. Initially, it was only the default on the login page, the reason that Google's Ariel Rideout engineer stated was because HTTPS made "your emails slower". However, users can manually switch to secure HTTPS mode in the inbox after signing in. In July 2008, Google simplified the ability to activate safe mode manually, by switching in the settings menu.
In 2007, Google corrected cross-site scripting security issues that could allow attackers to collect information from Gmail's contact list.
In January 2010, Google began launching HTTPS as the default for all users.
As of June 2012, new security features were introduced to protect users from state-sponsored attacks. A banner will appear at the top of the page alerting users of an unauthorized account compromise.
In March 2014, Google announced that an encrypted HTTPS connection would be used to send and receive all Gmail emails, and "any email messages you send or receive - 100% of them - mentioned when moving internally" via the company system.
Whenever possible, Gmail uses transport layer security (TLS) to automatically encrypt emails sent and received. On the web and on Android devices, users can check whether the message is encrypted by checking whether the message has a red pad closed or open.
Gmail automatically scans all incoming and outgoing e-mails for viruses in email attachments. For security reasons, some file types, including executable files, are not allowed to be sent in email.
At the end of May 2017, Google announced that it had implemented machine learning technology to identify emails with phishing and spam, with 99.9% detection accuracy. The company also announced that Gmail will selectively postpone some messages, about 0.05% of them, to perform more detailed analysis and aggregate details to improve the algorithm.
Third party encryption in transit
In the Google Transparency Report under the Secure email section, it provides information about the percentage of encrypted emails in transit between Gmail and third-party email providers.
Two-step verification
Gmail supports two-step verification, an optional additional measure for users to protect their accounts when they sign in.
Once enabled, users are required to verify their identity using the second method after entering their username and password when logged in on the new device. Common methods include entering codes sent to a user's phone via text messages, entering codes using the Google Authenticator smartphone application, or by entering a physical security key into the computer's USB port.
Using the security key for two-step verification is provided as an option in October 2014.
24-hour lockout
If an algorithm detects what Google describes as "abnormal use that may indicate that your account has been compromised," the account can be automatically locked between one minute and 24 hours, depending on the type of activity detected. The reasons listed for lock-down include:
- "Receive, delete, or download large amounts of email via POP or IMAP in no time.If you get an error message, 'Lockdown in Sector 4,' you should be able to access Gmail again after waiting 24 hours."
- "Send a lot of unsent messages (bounce messages back)."
- "Using file sharing or file storage software, browser extensions, or third-party software that automatically logs into your account."
- "Let some Gmail instances open."
- "Browser-related issues Please note that if you find your browser continually reloading when trying to access your Inbox, it may be a browser issue, and may need to clear your browser cache and cookies."
Child anti-porn policy
Google is fighting child pornography through Gmail servers along with National Center for Missing & amp; Exploited Children (NCMEC) finds children suffering abuse around the world. In collaboration with NCMEC, Google created a child pornography image database. Each image is assigned a unique number number known as a hash. Google then scans Gmail for a unique hash. When a suspicious image is present, Google reports the incident to the appropriate national authority.
History
The idea for Gmail was developed by Paul Buchheit several years before it was made public. This project is known as Caribou . During the initial development, the project was kept secret from most of Google's own engineers. This changed after the project got better and better, and in early 2004, almost everyone used it to access the company's internal email system.
Gmail was publicly announced by Google on April 1, 2004 as a limited beta release.
In November 2006, Google began offering Java-based Gmail applications for mobile phones.
In October 2007, Google began the process of rewriting the code portion used by Gmail, which will make the service faster and add new features, such as custom keyboard shortcuts and the ability to bookmark specific messages and email searches. Gmail also added IMAP support in October 2007.
Updates around January 2008 changed Gmail's use of the Gmail JavaScript, and resulted in a failure of third-party scripts used by some users. Google recognizes the problem and helps the user with a solution.
Gmail is out of beta status on July 7, 2009.
Prior to December 2013, users must agree to view images in an email, which acts as a security measure. This changed in December 2013, when Google, citing better image handling, allows images to be visible without user consent. The image will be routed through Google's secure proxy server rather than the original external host server. MarketingLand notes that changes to image handling mean the email marketer will no longer be able to track the recipient's IP address or information about the type of device the recipient uses. However, Wired states that the new change means the sender can track the time when the email was first opened, since initial loading of the image requires the system to create a "callback" to the original server.
Growth
In June 2012, Google announced that Gmail has 425 million active users globally. In May 2015, Google announced that Gmail has 900 million active users, 75% of whom use this service on mobile devices. In February 2016, Google announced that Gmail has passed 1 billion active users. In July 2017, Google announced that Gmail has passed 1.2 Ã, billion active users.
In the business sector, Quartz reported in August 2014 that, among the 150 companies examined in three major categories in the United States (Fortune 50 largest corporations, medium and media technology companies, and startup companies from the last Y incubator class Combinator), only one Fortune 50 company uses Gmail - Google itself - while 60% of medium companies and 92% of startup companies use Gmail.
In May 2014, Gmail became the first app on the Google Play Store to hit one billion installations on Android devices.
G Suite
As part of G Suite, Google's business-focused offerings, Gmail comes with additional features, including:
- An email address with a customer's domain name (@ yourcompany.com)
- 99.9% operating time guarantee with zero unscheduled time for maintenance
- 30GB or unlimited storage shared with Google Drive, depending on package
- 24/7 phone and email support
- Compatibility sync with Microsoft Outlook and other mail providers
- Support for add-ons that integrate third-party apps purchased from G Suite Marketplace with Gmail
Reception
Gmail is recorded by web developers for the initial deployment of Ajax.
Awards
Gmail was ranked second on PC World's "100 Best Products of 2005", behind Mozilla Firefox. Gmail also won the 'Honorable Mention' at the Bottom Line Design Awards 2005. In September 2006,
Criticism
Privacy
Google has one privacy policy that covers all its services.
Google claims that Gmail refrains from showing ads alongside potentially sensitive messages, such as those that mention race, religion, sexual orientation, health, or financial statements.
Automatic scanning of email content
Google's email servers automatically scan email for various purposes, including to add context-sensitive ads next to email, and to filter spam and malware.
The privacy advocate raises concerns about this practice; concerns include that allowing email content to be read by machines (as opposed to someone) may allow Google to store unlimited amount of information forever; background data scanning automatically increases the risk that privacy expectations in email use will be reduced or eroded; information collected from email may be retained by Google for many years after its current relevance to create a full profile of users; emails sent by users from other email providers are scanned despite never agreeing to Google's privacy policies or terms of service; Google may change its privacy policy unilaterally, and for minor changes to the policy, it may do so without notifying the user; in court cases, governments and organizations have the potential to more easily monitor legal email communications; at any time, Google may change its current corporate policy to allow the incorporation of information from emails with data collected from the use of other services; and any internal security issues with Google systems could potentially expose many - or all - of its users.
In 2004, thirty-one privacy and civil liberties organizations wrote a letter calling on Google to suspend its Gmail service until privacy issues were adequately addressed. The letter also asks Google to clarify its written information policy regarding data storage and data sharing among its business units. The organization also voiced their concerns about Google's plan to scan the text of all incoming messages for the purpose of ad placement, noting that secret email scanning to include third party ad content violates the implicit trust of email service providers.
On June 23, 2017, Google announced that, by 2017, this will stop scanning of email content to generate contextual ads, depending on personal data collected through other Google services. The Company claims that this change is intended to clarify its practice and address concerns among G Suite enterprise customers who feel an ambiguous difference between free consumers and paid professional variants, the latter being ad-free.
The court filings found by Consumer Watchdog's advocacy group in August 2013 revealed that Google stated in court that there was no "reasonable expectation" that existed among Gmail users with respect to the confidentiality of their emails. In response to the lawsuit filed in May 2013, Google explained:
"... all email users should always expect that their emails will be subject to automatic processing... Just as a sender of a letter to a business associate should not be surprised that the recipient's assistant opens the letter, people using today's web-based email can not be surprised if their communications are processed by the recipient of the ECS [recipient communication service] service in the delivery process.
A Google spokesman told the media on August 15, 2013 that the company took the issue of privacy and security of Gmail users "very seriously."
April 2014 Service update
Google updated its terms of service for Gmail in April 2014 to create full transparency for its users in connection with scanning email content. Relevant revision states: "Our automated systems analyze your content (including email) to provide you personally relevant product features, such as customized search results, customized ads, and spam and malware detection.These analyzes occur when content is submitted, received , and when saved. "A Google spokesman explained that the company hopes its policy is" simple and easy for users to understand. "
In response to this update, Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, stated: "The most dangerous things Google does are things like information stored in Analytics, cookies in advertising and profiles that can be done on individual accounts".
Microsoft ad campaigns against Google
In 2013, Microsoft launched an advertising campaign to attack Google to scan email messages, arguing that most consumers are unaware that Google monitors their private messages in order to deliver targeted ads. Microsoft claims that Outlook's email service does not scan the content of messages and a Microsoft spokesperson calls Google's "kryptonite" privacy issue. In response, Google states; "We work hard to ensure that ads are safe, unobtrusive and relevant... No human reads your email or Google Account information to show ads or related information Automatic algorithms - similar to those used for features such as Priority Inbox or filtering spam - determines which ads show up. " The New York Times cites" Google supporters ", who say that" Microsoft ads are not fun, the last unsuccessful attempt of a company to compete against Google on the product battlefield the more noble ".
Other privacy issues
2010 attack from China
In January 2010, Google detected a "very sophisticated" cyber attack on its infrastructure coming from China. The target of the attack was Chinese human rights activists, but Google found that accounts belonging to European, American and Chinese activists for human rights in China have been "routinely accessed by third parties". In addition, Google stated that their investigation revealed that "at least" other 20 large companies from "various businesses" - including the Internet, finance, technology, media, and chemical sectors - are also equally targeted. Google is in the process of notifying these companies and it also works with the relevant US authorities. Given these attacks, Google improves the security and architecture of its infrastructure, and advises individual users to install anti-virus and anti-spyware on their computers, update their operating systems and web browsers, and be careful when clicking on Internet links or when sharing personal information within instant messaging and email.
Social networking integration
The launch of Google Buzz in February 2010, the previous social network associated with Gmail, immediately invited criticism to publicly share user contact details unless the default settings were changed. New Gmail feature launched in January 2014, where users can email people with Google accounts even if they do not know the recipient's email address. Marc Rotenberg, President of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, called the feature "annoying", and compared it with the initial Google Buzz launch privacy loophole.
Update for DoubleClick privacy policy
In June 2016, Julia Angwin of ProPublica writes about Google's updated privacy policy, which removes a clause stating Google will not combine DoubleClick's web browsing cookie information with personally identifiable information from other services. This change allows Google to aggregate user-identifiable personal information from different Google services to create one unified ad profile for each user. After the publication of the article, Google contacts ProPublica to say that the merge will not include Gmail keywords in ad targeting.
Out
Gmail suffered at least seven outages in 2009 alone, causing doubts about the reliability of its services. It suffered a new outage on February 28, 2011, in which the bug caused the Gmail account to be blank. Google stated in a blog post that "email never goes away" and recovery is in progress. Other outages occurred on April 17, 2012, September 24, 2013, and January 24, 2014.
Google has stated that "Gmail stays more than 99.9% available to all users, and we are committed to keeping events like today famous for their scarcity."
"On behalf of" tag
In May 2009, Farhad Manjoo wrote on The New York Times blog about the tag "on behalf of" Gmail. Manjoo explains: "The problem is, when you try to send mail out of your Gmail's universal inbox, Gmail adds a tag that notifies the recipient that you're actually using Gmail and not the work email.If the recipient uses Microsoft Outlook, he'll see a message like , "From youroffice@domain.com on behalf of yourgmail@gmail.com." Manjoo further writes that "Google explained that it added tags to prevent your email being considered spam by your recipients; the theory is that if the e-mail is truthful about its origin, it should not arouse suspicion by spam checking software. In July next, Google announced a new option that will remove the "On behalf" tag, by emailing the server from another email address instead of using the Gmail server.
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See also
- Email server comparison
- Webmail provider comparison
- List of Google products
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References
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External links
- Official website
- The Official Website for Gmail for Work
- Official Gmail (multilanguage) mobile site
Source of the article : Wikipedia
"... all email users should always expect that their emails will be subject to automatic processing... Just as a sender of a letter to a business associate should not be surprised that the recipient's assistant opens the letter, people using today's web-based email can not be surprised if their communications are processed by the recipient of the ECS [recipient communication service] service in the delivery process.
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