Things just got a lot hotter in the hyper-competitive world of online email providers.
In response to Google's announcement that their soon-to-be-launched "Gmail" service will offer users 1 gigabyte of email storage, Yahoo! announced an upgrade of their free email service to allow users 100MB of free email storage along with other enhancements.
Microsoft's Hotmail will surely also announce a free upgrade in email storage space.
On the surface it might just appear like a simple case of one-upmanship, but it actually represents major forces digging in online and preparing to do battle.
It appears Yahoo! simply wanted to take the issue of email storage space off the table as a consideration for users as to which email service to choose.
Google enjoyed considerable media and public attention over the past few weeks with the media marveling at how Google intended to give hundreds of megabytes more space to its users than Yahoo! or Hotmail.
With this move, Yahoo! made storage a "non-issue," but the real war has only just begun.
Email ranks as the number one most popular online activity according to virtually any survey you care to read.
When people go online, they spend the single biggest chunk of their time sending, receiving, and reading email.
Online email providers understand that eyeballs on a page looking at advertising and responding to offers is what makes them money.
By increasing loyalty among email users in order to repeatedly draw them back to the same website (often several times a day), email service providers like Yahoo!, Hotmail and Google can keep people looking at revenue generating ads.
Despite the best efforts of government regulators, private organizations, software filters, ISP's and others, over half of all email sent online rates as unsolicited commercial email (SPAM).
Besides storage space, Google, Yahoo! and Hotmail will start claiming that their spam filters rate better than the rest.
These online powerhouses hope to attract users with the promise of cutting down and even eliminating the avalanche of get-rich-quick, pornography, and ink-jet cartridge offers (among others) that bombard virtually anyone with an email account more than 15 minutes old.
This will, however, lead to another problem that many of them won't talk about, which involves filtering legitimate email as spam.
Unfortunately, the sword cuts both ways on this issue.
So where does it all end? Never! Hotmail will enter the fray with expanded storage capacity as well as the promise of less spam and a more "friendly" interface to make your email life even easier.
Yahoo! and Hotmail will most likely copy Google and start serving context sensitive advertising based on the content of each email message as it get viewed.
Privacy advocates will weigh in to claim that all of the filtering and serving of ads based on an email message's content violates our rights to privacy and heralds the arrival of "Big Brother."
But all this jockeying for position and enticing users from one email service to another actually represents a great boon for the average Internet user.
It will force three of the Web's biggest players to wake up and improve their services after 2 or 3 years of "business as usual" and we can all expect a few valuable innovations to result.
About The Author
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how to use fr-e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate links...
Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links? "Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate links... without spending a dime on advertising! Click Here> http://www.TurnWordsIntoTraffic.com
An autoresponder gives you the ability to send messages effortlessly... Read More
A common practice in today's e-commerce environment is to use... Read More
-- Email Appending and ECOA Match Rates Revealed --NEWTON, MA,... Read More
WHY BUILD YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS DATABASE? Gaining your customers' email... Read More
Owning your own online business is a lot of work.... Read More
These days email is taken for granted and used perhaps... Read More
A lady emailed me yesterday very upset over the fact... Read More
These are several ways that you can use to persuade... Read More
1. Pick 4 or more articles you've written that have... Read More
It is an accepted fact among the experts now that... Read More
You've probably heard this educational philosophy:Tell me, and I'll forget.Show... Read More
Yes, the headline is spelled right. What if you had... Read More
I've been sending out email camapigns for clients for over... Read More
Answering emails can take up a significant portion of the... Read More
What if you could send out all the information that... Read More
I have a special new email address. It's in addition... Read More
I am frequently asked how to create and send HTML... Read More
How to use the latest e-messaging strategies to increase profits.Many... Read More
Lack of trust is the biggest problem marketers have on... Read More
White space in newsletters is like pausing in conversation. Take... Read More
An autoresponder is a very powerful tool for any online... Read More
Wednesday, December 15 2004 at 16:00 EET... Read More
Computer viruses are usually a bad thing. They can compromise... Read More
As I logged into my e-mail account, I clicked on... Read More
In a fast moving global economy, e-mail offers you the... Read More
You heard the message before. Your e-mail list is the... Read More
Now there is no law that says you have to... Read More
Just in case you don't know, your 'LIST' ? is... Read More
The lack of an email response is an issue I... Read More
The importance of building an opt-in list over spamming (a.k.a.,... Read More
E-mail, a wonderful communication tool is also the greatest challenge... Read More
Newsletters are often thought of as easy, do-it-yourself communications projects.... Read More
Before I do this, let me describe how autoresponders work.... Read More
It is an accepted fact among the experts now that... Read More
Developing and executing a successful e-mail marketing campaign is becoming... Read More
I love the Internet! Information about any topic that piques... Read More
If you are really interested in conducting a successful, effective... Read More
Recently, there has been a lot written about email and... Read More
If you are a REALTOR focused on residential sales who... Read More
Do you publish an e-zine or newsletter? If you answer... Read More
My first email address was with compuserve.com back when you... Read More
I had great feedback from my last article, and was... Read More
There are many avenues available for marketing online products. Radios,... Read More
When we speak about viral marketing, we are not talking... Read More
Every marketer needs leads, they are the lifeblood of your... Read More
In my e-mail one day, I received the following message:... Read More
Have you ever accidentally lost an important file on your... Read More
Most Websites are gathering e-mail addresses. When you submit your... Read More
Writing ads for either your own products or affiliate products... Read More
An autoresponder is an automatic or software-mailing program. Why... Read More
Introduction Shrewd marketers devote a great amount of attention to... Read More
With all the safelists and different methods for using them,... Read More
The goal of all marketing is to attract interest in,... Read More
The lack of an email response is an issue I... Read More
1. The Power of SevenWhen choosing a price point for... Read More
Email may be fast becoming the preferred means of business... Read More
If you're in business on the Internet to make a... Read More
Spam is a bigger and bigger problem nowadays. Recently Ralph... Read More
Further to my previous issues this subject continues ? as... Read More
If I sent you an email that said: "The Big... Read More
I have always been an avid reader of Stephen King's... Read More
1. Most people want to win over others. Tell your... Read More
There probably isn't a business person alive who hasn't at... Read More
Having been connected to the "net" now for about eight... Read More
Suppose you have a website with 500 visitors a day,... Read More
Gartner estimates that half of the 5.5 trillion emails sent... Read More
Email Marketing |