Google trying to fix e-mail with Gmail alternative

[The Buzz]

Google is apparently not happy with all the features its email product can offer, and it's reportedly working on a new Gmail alternative, Android Police has learned, currently known internally as project "Bigtop."

http://bgr.com/2014/10/22/gmail-vs-bigtop-google-email/

[universal4]

This is due in part to spam just about completely ruining the value of email.

It also has a fair amount to do with the fact that gmail users also send spam, gmail users also get a lot of spam since the filtering system is either too weak or allows for so many false positives that a lot of additional time is spent trying to white-list or "not spam" a lot of mail.

What we might see as spam a drug seller might not, but what we do not see as spam, such as casino offers, half the planet might.

No matter how many pieces of mail is delivered to mail boxes, there can easily be a factor of 400% to 800% more that is filtered and not delivered. (could even be higher for email addresses that have been publicly published for years)

I think Google is also starting to recognize the costs associated with offering email service, that to many, is nothing more than a spam filter. No matter how good their filters are, they are still paying for every single piece of incoming mail whether it ever makes it into a mailbox or not.

In today's market, I doubt that very many companies could run an email service as large or as wide reaching as Gmail, if they did not have revenue like Google does in other areas.

In my opinion, Gmail could not stand on it's own, since I think the costs would outweigh and revenue gmail advertising brings in.

Rick
Universal4

[TheGooner]

This is due in part to spam just about completely ruining the value of email.

Not just spam - but hacking and phishing attempts have also destroyed the value of an email.

Savvy consumers simply do not trust any financial information that comes via email any more.

Would you click on a link from an email from your bank? Does your bank even communicate via email to you?

Email is dying as a business selling medium.

[universal4]

True Gooner, although I sorta lump the hack and phish attempts together....since I classify all that incoming crap on the mail server as spam anyway...lol

You make a very good point and I agree that overall, the "trust factor" has gone way down because of spam/phishing/trojans/etc in emails. I think that this also hurts the overall "Net trust factor" by the average user.

Sure they will continue to somewhat trust the bigger brands that have gained their trust in retail over the years, but I think that too is diminished a little bit more with every single news story about data breaches etc.

Rick
Universal4

[gayle]

Interesting thread. I changed over to all gmail when after firing my internet service of 8 years, I then discovered the hassles of losing an established email address. I figured that at least with gmail, you would not have to worry about losing the service. Perhaps wrong? Secondly, I have noticed that gmail spam is/was not as bad as when I decided to try Zoho mail for business. That move did not last long when spam took up twice the space that gmail did.

[Gamer]

I hate using e-mail marketing and never done it in my life.
I never trust any e-mail and never read anything without subject.
... and I love to delete all e-mails that contain few sentences and then ask me to open the attached document to read more!
Listen! I'm not so stupid like blondie woman from 1960s.