Yahoo Defeats Gmail Indefinitely
Posted on 28 March 2007
I just read the craziest tech news I’ve seen in awhile on TechCrunch:
Yahoo beats Google indefinitely in e-mail storage by offering unlimited e-mail storage size starting May 2007.
Wow. UNLIMITED storage. That beats the measly 2.8 GB we get on Gmail right now. Lesson learnt: how do you beat a competitor as strong as Google? Offer an infinite amount of whatever they offer! What a smooth and incredibly bold move by Yahoo.
But as Mike Arrington pointed out, Yahoo still only offers POP access to users who pay for the premium e-mail service. Next move? Match Google’s free-everything concept AND acquire Meebo, incorporate it inside Yahoo Mail to defeat Gtalk indefinitely. ;)
Do you think Google will follow suit and offer unlimited storage?
» Enjoy the read? Get free updates by subscribing to geekwhat: 
» Bonus: Check out other posts in the Tech category.
» Bonus: Check out other posts in the Tech category.
POPULAR
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
March 28th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
It seems like a bold move, but so what? Will a person really have that much storage on a mail server? I guess it’s my opinion. Google just has so much more going for them, that I think it will create an initial stir but then google will come out with new something and they’ll gain the momentum back.
March 28th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Maybe if Yahoo! could create a user interface that isn’t cluttered with ads, a spam filter that works, and a interface that doesn’t want to make you punch yourself in the head, then maybe they will regain users they lost to Gmail.
Not that Gmail is perfect, but it’s a lot better than Yahoo! Mail is right now and a disk space gimmick won’t help them regain users, the only thing that will help them is making their user experience better, something that Yahoo! simply doesn’t seem to understand (just take a look at how their front page has changed over the years, here is a hint: it hasn’t changed for the better).
March 29th, 2007 at 12:18 am
Charn, I agree that Gmail has a much better interface than Yahoo’s mail platform. Basically Gmail is youthful and vibrant and Yahoo is corporate and boxy. But I, for instance, use POP forwarding about 80% of the time. So what really matters is storage space.
Yahoo’s spam filter does suck enormously.
Jason, I’m curious to see how Google responds to this. They’re already a step ahead of Yahoo in domain hosting. I set up my domain e-mail with them and it’s 100x better than any webmail service out there (basically because you’re using the Gmail interface to check your domain email).
For anyone using youemail@yourdomain.com, check this out:
http://google.com/a/
March 29th, 2007 at 6:39 am
It’s about stickiness. Once you have an email address that you like, you want to keep it. And sometimes, you need to archive stuff for work or whatever. It’s only logical that this will happen with all the companies. The way to differentiate is not on space, however. Differentiation will be most successful for people that are deciding which service to use and the initial lineup of features will help. Word of mouth will help too. So the software design will create a viral deal that makes it cool to use (i.e., ipod, 37signals, etc.).
March 29th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
I’ve had a Yahoo! email account for more than 6 years now and to be honest, the spam filter is just as good as gmail’s spam filter. I probably get about the same proportion in either account. Yahoo!’s interface is slow and clunky but very Outlookish which isn’t too bad. If they cut out most of their ads, sped up the interface, and made POP free, I think Yahoo! could definitely attract users again.
March 29th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Interesting, I get a lot of spam in my Yahoo inbox. Server space is getting cheaper every day. I think Gmail will follow suit very soon.
March 31st, 2007 at 1:59 am
Hmmm….
I’ve had my yahoo account for many years. I rarely, in fact, I cannot remember a time I had spam in my inbox. It’s all tossed conveniently in the “bulk” folder for my immediate ignoral.
Gmail, on the other hand, disappoints me regularly with spam in both my inbox and my spam box. It’s a lot easier to rid my inbox of spam from gmail though. I consider it my daily brain workout - brain squats if you will. one spam gone two spam gone three spam gone…
How about that hotmail! 2GB now…their beta is cumbersome, confusing, and completely user non-friendly. I tried to do a little cut and paste number on an email I was sending, and was annoyed to see no way to cut or paste.
Oh well, what do we expect for something we get for free. ; )
Enjoy your weekend.