Gmail and Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets/Charlie.somerville: Difference between pages

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Revision as of 00:37, 27 June 2007

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{{mergefrom|Features of Gmail|Talk:Gmail#Merge Features of Gmail}}

:''The following discussion is an archived debate of the case of suspected sockpuppetry. <span style="color:red">'''Please do not modify it.'''</span> No further edits should be made to this page. All edits should go to the talk page of this case. If you are seeing this page as a result of an attempt to open a new case of sockpuppetry of the same user, [[Wikipedia:Sock_puppetry/Notes_for_the_accuser|read this]] for detailed instructions.''

===[[User:Charlie.somerville]]===

;Suspected sockpuppeteer

{{user5|1=Charlie.somerville}}<br>

;Suspected sockpuppets

{{otheruses}}

{{user5|1=Bradlow idiot}}<br>

{{Infobox Software | name = Gmail

{{user5|1=58.107.252.48}}<br>

| logo = [[Image:Gmail_New_Logo.gif|center|Gmail's beta logo]]

| screenshot = [[Image:Gmailshrunk.png|center|240px|Gmail screenshot]]

| caption = Gmail Inbox

| developer = [[Google]]

| latest_release_version =

| latest_release_date = [[April 1]], [[2004]]

| latest_preview_version =

| latest_preview_date =

| operating_system = [[Cross-platform]] (web-based application)

| genre = [[Post Office Protocol|POP3]] [[e-mail]], [[Webmail]]

| license =

| website = https://mail.google.com, http://www.gmail.com

}}

;Report submission by

'''Gmail''', known as '''[[#Naming issues|Google Mail]]''' in [[Germany]] and the [[United Kingdom]], is a free [[Webmail]] and [[Post Office Protocol|POP3]] e-mail service provided by [[Google]]. It was released on [[April 1]], [[2004]], and has not yet had a [[Development stage|gold]] release.

'''[[User:AAA!|<span style="color:red">AAA!</span>]]''' <small>([[User talk:AAA!|<span style="color:green">AAAA</span>]])</small> 03:34, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

;Evidence

This service offers over 2.8GB of file storage, a search-oriented interface and a unique 'conversation view'. Gmail is well-known for the use of [[Ajax (programming)|Ajax programming]] in its design. Most countries, including the US, currently require an invitation to use Gmail, either from their own mobile phone, from an existing Gmail user or from unofficial websites.

Bradlow Idiot's {{contribs|Bradlow idiot|contribs}} on my user page ([http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:AAA%21&diff=next&oldid=139874179 diff]) practically match the vandalism [[User:Charlie.somerville|Charlie.somerville]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:AAA%21&oldid=137551894 made] on my user page. [[User:58.107.252.48|58.107.252.48]] also [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:AAA%21&diff=139877136&oldid=139875559 vandalised] my user page in the same pattern. If they are not sockpuppets, then I suspect them to be [[WP:MEAT|meatpuppets]].

;Comments

==Features==

Looks like a match. Charlie last edited under his own name more than a week ago, and he left an apology note, so blocking his account would be pointless IMO. Bradlow idiot should be indef-blocked as a sock/vandal-only account. The IP has been firmly warned by Fram, and that should be sufficient. [[User:YechielMan|Yechiel]][[User talk:YechielMan|<span style="color:green">Man</span>]] 08:36, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

<br>

<br>

It isn't me. Must be one of my cronies who were around me while I was vandalising your page.<br>

Go ahead and block [[User:Bradlow idiot|Bradlow idiot]] but don't mark it against my account.

[[User:Charlie.somerville|Charlie.somerville]] 03:14, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

;Conclusions

===Storage===

I took a closer look, and I believe that Charlie is innocent. A friendly word of advice to Charlie: it's not a good idea to edit other people's userpages without their permission to write dirty jokes. Even though you reverted it without a fuss, you should not have done it in the first place.

The service is notable for providing over 2.8 [[gigabyte]]s <!-- There is no need to keep this accurate to the exact byte --> (as of [[January 2007|January 2007]])<ref>[http://www.gmail.com/ Gmail Homepage], retrieved [[6 December]] [[2006]]</ref> of storage space, increased from the original limit of 1 GB. This change was announced on [[April 1]], [[2005]], and was made for the one-year [[anniversary]] of Gmail. The announcement was accompanied by a statement that Google would "keep giving people more space forever". <ref>[http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3494491 Endless Gmail Storage], retrieved [[30 June]] [[2006]]</ref> All Google will say about this now is that it will keep increasing by the second as long as they have enough space on their servers. Although Gmail's storage space continuously goes up, Google is only increasing the inbox capacity by a nominal four bytes per second (as of [[27 October]] [[2006]]).<ref>[http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6558&topic=1546 How much storage space do I get?], retrieved [[30 June]] [[2006]]</ref> The growth rate was faster when the announcement was first made. If the present growth rate continues unchanged, storage capacity will reach 3 gigabytes by the middle of 2009.<ref>http://eks.brownmajik.com/2006/02/09/when-will-gmail-give-me-3-gb/</ref>

I checked Charlie's editing pattern in the contribution log. He tends to make a few edits in a day, then disappear for two or three weeks, then return for a few more edits. His last edit had been on June 12. Then he returns on June 26, makes three ordinary edits as if nothing happened, and comes to defend himself in this case.

===Interface===

Bradlow idiot came along on June 22 and made a throwaway edit to revert to the last vandalism version by Charlie. In order to do that, he needed to be a sockpuppet of ''someone'' - newbies don't know how to navigate page history and revert on their first edit - but that doesn't establish ''whom'' he is impersonating. It could be someone else.

====Programming====

Gmail makes intensive use of [[Ajax (programming)|Ajax]] (specifically, the [[AjaXSLT]] framework), employing modern browser features such as [[JavaScript]], keyboard access keys and [[Web feed]] integration, allowing for a rich user experience, while retaining the benefits of a web application.

It just doesn't make sense to me that Charlie would vandalize as a joke, ''revert his own vandalism'', apologize to [[User:AAA!]] on his talk page, and come back ten days later to revert to the vandalism version. It's totally irrational on many levels.

Gmail offers a "standard without chat" view. This is the regular standard view without the chat functionality. [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]] 8+ supports "standard without chat" view, although it does not support "standard" view - unless Opera is set to mask itself as Internet Explorer.

Charlie, I'm willing to give you a free pass on this as long as you behave yourself and avoid vandalizing pages, even if it's just a joke (unless you wish to fool around in the [[WP:SANDBOX]]. I suppose we could do a checkuser, but I don't think it's necessary.

====Organization====

Advanced search strings can be constructed, using either the Advanced Search interface, or search operators in the search box. Search options include search for phrases, message located and message date.

{Disclosure: I am YechielMan above. I changed my usernaeme.) [[User:Shalom|Shalom]] ^{[[User talk:Shalom|Hello]]} 03:36, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

[[Mail filter|Filters]] can also be run by using an interface similar to the Search Options dialog (see [[#Searching|searching]] below). Gmail allows users to filter messages by their text; their From, To, and Subject fields; and by whether or not the message has an attachment. Gmail can perform any combination of the following actions upon a message that meets a label's criteria: Archiving (i.e. removing the message from the Inbox), marking as "starred", applying a label, moving to the trash, and forwarding to another e-mail address.

:The friend explanation actually makes sense here, so I'll give the benefit of the doubt this time around, given that Charlie.somerville has been editing constructively. Charlie, if you just want a page to screw around with, you can create a subpage in your userspace (such as [[User:Charlie.somerville/sandbox]]) and do whatever test edits you like to it. [[User:Seraphimblade|Seraphimblade]] <small>^{[[User talk:Seraphimblade|Talk to me]]}</small> 00:33, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Gmail recognises related messages, and groups them into "conversations", where are associated messages are listed one after another, with the newest messages at the top. If a conversation has more than approximately 100 messages, it splits it into separate sections.

This can make sense actually. You might not know, but me and Charlie know each other in person, and we also go to the same school. I saw Charlie on Wikipedia, and he had the vandalised diff on a separate notepad document (this was before he apologized to me, by the way). It is possible that he may have given that to his friends, and they created accounts, edited the page, and replaced it with the vandalised edit that was on the doc. So it's possible that they could be [[WP:MEAT|meatpuppets]] or even just [[Wikipedia:Single-purpose account|single-purpose accounts]]. Hope that shined some light on that.

To organize messages further, e-mails can be labelled. Labels give users a flexible method of categorizing e-mails, since an e-mail may have any number of labels (in contrast to a system in which an e-mail may belong to only one folder). Users can display all e-mails having a particular label and can use labels as a search criterion.

And Charlie, I'd like to let you know that I'm not doing this for revenge; I'm doing it because you broke some of Wikipedia's rules, such as [[WP:VAND|this]], [[WP:NPA|this]], and possibly [[WP:SOCK|this]]; and it alerted my suspicions since those edits on my page were practically the same ones you made. Heck, if it was someone in Canada who did the exact same thing on my user page, I'd still have taken the same measures that I took against you. If I wanted revenge, I would've talked to you in person or something similar, and not get Wikipedia involved (because there's no point to do it on Wikipedia when we can simply do it in person). Hope there are no hard feelings between us. --'''[[User:AAA!|<span style="color:red">AAA!</span>]]''' <small>([[User talk:AAA!|<span style="color:green">AAAA</span>]])</small> 00:37, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

====Contacts====

Gmail automatically saves contact details when e-mails are sent to an unknown recipient. If the user changes, adds, or removes information near an e-mail such as the name while sending any e-mail, it also updates that in the contact list. When a user starts typing in the To, CC or BCC fields it brings up a list with the relevant contacts, with their name and primary e-mail address. More information, including alternate email addresses, can be added on the Contacts page. These contacts can also be added to a group, which makes sending multiple e-mails to related contacts easier. Images can be added to contacts, which will appear whenever the mouse is over the contact's name.

----

Contacts can be imported in several different ways, from [[Microsoft Office Outlook]], [[Eudora (e-mail client)|Eudora]], [[Hotmail]], [[Yahoo! Mail]], [[orkut]], and any other contact list capable of being exported as a CSV file. Gmail also allows a user to export their contacts to CSV.

====Composition====

A year after Gmail was announced, Rich Text Formatting was introduced, which allows the font size and color text-alignment to be customized, as well as the embedding of bullet points and numbered lists. Functions for adding [[HTML]] code, tables, images and smilies are also included.

[[Autosave]] is another feature in Gmail - a system for avoiding loss of data in case of a browser crash or other error. When composing an e-mail, a draft copy of the message and any attachments are saved automatically. Although messages begin to be saved once a minute, saving times vary depending on the size of the message.

===Security===

Gmail offers secure connections to the Gmail servers, reducing the risk of eavesdropping. Most web-based mail systems such Hotmail only use [[https]] during the log-on stage when username and password are sent. With Gmail it is possible to use the secure connection throughout the entire session, including reading and writing of e-mails. For POP3 based access [[Transport Layer Security]] (TLS) is used.

Although TLS when you send email via an email client such as [[Mozilla Thunderbird]], it seems that it is not used when the email is sent from the Gmail servers to the destination ___domain's [[mail exchangers]], so at some stage your email message will still be transmitted in plaintext.

Gmail offers a [[e-mail spam|spam]] filtering system. According to Gmail, messages marked as spam are automatically deleted after 30 days, but there have been reports on Gmail Help Discussion of spam mails staying in the spam folder for months.

All incoming and outgoing e-mails are automatically scanned for viruses in e-mail attachments. If a virus is found on an attachment the reader is trying to open, Gmail will try to remove the virus and open the newly cleaned attachment. Gmail also scans all outgoing attachments, and will prevent the message being sent if a virus is found. Executable files are automatically blocked by the Anti-Virus system.

Gmail is also one of the first major e-mail providers to sign outgoing mails with [[Yahoo!]]'s [[DomainKeys]] signatures.

===Addresses===

Gmail allows the user to add other email accounts to be used as [http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=20616 optional sender addresses] on outgoing email. A verification process is performed to confirm the user's ownership of each email address before it is added. "Plus-addresses" can also be added as sender addresses in the same way. Moreover, any of the additional addresses can be set as the default address. When using this feature, the address chosen will appear in the "To:" field of the email. However, the original Gmail account can still be traced, as it either appears on a "Sender:" field in the email header, or in the message's subject field. Optionally, a different "Reply-to:" address can be set for each "send as" address.

Gmail also supports [[E-mail address#Plus (or Minus) addressing|plus-addressing]] of e-mails. Messages can be sent to addresses in the format <tt>[e-mail]</tt>, where <tt>extratext</tt> can be any string. This allows users to sign up for different services with different aliases and then easily filter all e-mails from those services. However, a significant number of services do not support email addresses containing plus signs.

Google [http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=10313 states] that "Gmail doesn't recognize dots (.) as characters within a username. This way, you can add and remove dots to your username for desired address variations." For instance, the account <tt>[e-mail]</tt> receives mail sent to <tt>[e-mail]</tt>, <tt>[e-mail]</tt>, etc. Likewise, the account <tt>[e-mail]</tt> receives mail sent to <tt>[e-mail]</tt>. This can be useful in setting filters for incoming mail. However, when signing in, it is necessary to include any dots used in the creation of the account.

===Product integration===

[[Image:Gmail chat.png|200px|right|thumb|Gmail displaying a chat window.]]

Gmail's [[instant messaging]] features allow users to chat with other people who are online that have a Gmail account. It is synchronized with [[Google Talk]], because it uses the [[Jabber]] network. It also works with other Jabber clients, including [[Apple Computer|Apple]]'s [[iChat]], [[Gizmo Project]], [[Psi (instant messaging client)|Psi]] and [[Miranda IM]]. Inferior to Google Talk, Gmail's instant messaging feature does not support voice calling. All messages are archived to the Chats mailbox in Gmail, unless 'Off the Record' is enabled in Google Talk. Another Google Talk integration feature is voicemail, where the message is sent to the recipient's Gmail inbox; as well as synchronizing contact pictures.

Soon after [[Google Calendar]] was announced on [[April 13]], [[2006]], it was integrated with Gmail. Events can be added while writing a message, that get stored on the main Calendar interface. Recipients who use Gmail will then receive an invitation to the event, which they can accept or decline. Furthermore, Gmail attempts to recognize event dates and locations within e-mails, and gives users the option to add the event to a calendar. This competes with [[Microsoft]]'s [[Exchange Server]].

===Browser support===

Gmail is available on any computer with a supported browser: [[Internet Explorer]] 5.5+, [[Mozilla Application Suite]] 1.4+, [[Firefox]] 0.8+, [[Safari (web browser)|Safari]] 1.2.1+, [[K-Meleon]] 0.9+, [[Netscape]] 7.1+, [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]] 9+. Gmail also offers "Basic HTML view" to allow users to access the Gmail messages from almost any computer running browsers that do not fully support the more advanced features, such as Internet Explorer 4.0+, Netscape 4.07+ or [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]] 6.03+, or users with JavaScript disabled. Gmail's Help Center provides a [http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6557 list of fully supported browsers]. Gmail has recently also become available as a [http://www.google.com/mobile/gmail/ downloadable application for mobile phones] as well as [[WAP]]-enabled mobile phones. It also works on the [[PlayStation Portable|PSP]] and [[Nintendo DS Opera Browser]] web browsers, but is not fully supported.

===Language support===

[[Image:Gmail_inbox_in_Japanese.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Gmail supports multiple languages. Here, its interface is shown in Japanese.]]

The Gmail interface currently supports 40 languages, which include most of the US English features, including: [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Brazilian Portuguese]], [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Simplified Chinese character|Chinese (simplified)]], [[Traditional Chinese character|Chinese (traditional)]], [[Croatian language|Croatian]], [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[British English|English (UK)]], [[American English|English (US)]], [[Estonian language|Estonian]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Hindi language|Hindi]], [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Korean language|Korean]], [[Latvian language|Latvian]], [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Romanian language|Romanian]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Serbian language|Serbian]], [[Slovak language|Slovak]], [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]], [[Thai language|Thai]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] and [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]].

===Applications===

Google has developed several smaller applications, with attempts to increase user productivity, expand into business sectors and make Gmail available available on mobile devices.

[http://mail.google.com/mail/help/notifier/notifier_windows.html Gmail Notifier], an official tool offered by Google, displays a small icon in the notification area (see [[Taskbar]]) in [[Microsoft Windows]] and on the right-hand side of the menu bar in [[Mac OS X]], indicating the presence of new mail in one's inbox. It also has a feature that makes Gmail the default mail client for ''mailto'' links. It does not, however, download new messages. It should be noted that the Gmail Notifier does not work with Gmail For Your Domain.

On [[February 10]], [[2006]], Google [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/big-mail-on-campus.html introduced] [https://www.google.com/hosted/Home Gmail for your ___domain]. All companies who participated in the beta testing were allowed to use Gmail through their own ___domain. Now, other Google services have been added to the product, including [[Google Calendar]], [[Google Page Creator]] and [[Google Talk]].

On [[November 2]] [[2006]], Google began offering a mobile-application based version of its Gmail product for [[mobile phones]] capable of running [[Java]] applications . Those interested in using the application can download it from [http://www.gmail.com/app gmail.com/app] directly from their mobile phone. In addition, [[Sprint]] announced separately that it would make the application available from its Vision and Power Vision homepages and which will be preloaded onto some new Sprint phones<ref>[http://www.betanews.com/article/Google_Offers_Javabased_Mobile_Gmail/1162487108 Google Offers Java-based Mobile Gmail], retrieved [[2 November]] [[2006]]</ref>. The application gives Gmail its own custom menu system, which is much easier to navigate than a Web-based application would be on a cell phone. Gmail's message threading also shows up clearly, and the site displays attachments (like photos, Word documents) in the application<ref>[http://news.com.com/2061-12572_3-6131868.html Google Mail goes mobile. RSS too.], retrieved [[2 November]] [[2006]]</ref>. Gmail mobile isn't officially supported outside the United States (as at December 2006)

==Development history==

{{main|History of Gmail}}

===Announcement===

Gmail was a project begun by Google developer [[Paul Buchheit]] years before it was ever announced to the public. For several years, the software was only available internally, as an email client for Google employees.{{fact}}

Gmail was finally announced to the public in 2004 amid a flurry of rumor. Owing to [[April Fool's Day]], however, the company's [http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/gmail.html press release] was greeted with skepticism in the technology world, especially since Google already had been known to make April Fool's Jokes (such as [http://www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html PigeonRank]). However, they explained that their real joke had been a press release saying that they would take [[offshoring]] to the extreme by putting employees in a "[http://www.google.com/jobs/lunar_job.html Google Copernicus Center]" on the [[Moon]]. Jonathan Rosenberg, Google's vice-president of products, was [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3591589.stm quoted by BBC News] as saying, "We are very serious about Gmail."

===Registration===

Access to the service is limited to those who have an invitation from an existing account holder, from [[Blogger (service)|Blogger]], or through their mobile phone. Creating a Gmail account without an invitation requires a mobile phone and also requires text messaging on the phone. Google has stated that the invitation system is intended to reduce the amount of abuse, as spammers are unable to make a large number of accounts, something which they can do with other services like [[Hotmail]] or [[Yahoo! Mail]], whose registration is completely open.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=22245 |title=Can I sign up without the invitation code? Or without a mobile phone? |accessdate=2006-12-13 |format=website |work=Gmail Help Center }}</ref> Google has made accounts available, without an invitation or Google SMS, to anyone in [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]] since [[August 9]] [[2006]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.apcstart.com/3873/gmail_finally_open_for_business |title=Gmail finally open for business |accessdate=2006-12-13 |format=website |work=APC Magazine }}</ref>, in [[Japan]] since [[August 23]] [[2006]]{{citationneeded}} and in Egypt since [[December 3]] [[2006]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ameinfo.com/104542.html |title=Google announces that Gmail is now available to all users in Egypt |accessdate=2006-12-13 |format=website |work=AME Info }}</ref>

While Gmail is not entirely open to the general public yet, most Gmail users have many invites to spare, as Google gives users anything from 0 to 100 free invitations (and frequently replenishes them, as a reward for users who frequently check their Gmail accounts {{fact}}). It is currently possible for someone in [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[Japan]], [[Egypt]] or [[Russia]] to sign up without an invitation. Someone can also sign up if one has a mobile phone from [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], [[Thailand]], [[Turkey]], [[Philippines]], or the [[United States]] [https://www.google.com/accounts/SmsMailSignup1 via SMS Signup] or a .edu e-mail address from an accredited U.S. institution.[http://services.google.com/university/cgi-bin/gmail] One can find free Gmail invites at various Web sites, or even for sale at online [[auction]]s, despite Google's prohibition of selling of Gmail addresses.

===Domain name===

Before being acquired by Google, the gmail.com [[___domain name]] was used by the free e-mail service offered by Garfield.com, online home of the [[comic strip]] ''[[Garfield]]''. This free e-mail service has moved to [http://www.e-garfield.com/ e-garfield.com].

As of [[June 22]] [[2005]], Gmail's [[canonical]] [[Uniform Resource Identifier|URI]] has been [http://mathibus.com/blogmarks/2005/06/gmail-goes-301 changed] to <code>http://mail.google.com/mail/</code> instead of <code>http://gmail.google.com/gmail/</code>.

===Alliance with Sky===

On [[6 December]] [[2006]], [[British Sky Broadcasting]] released details of a Sky and Google alliance.[http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=104016&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=939641&highlight=] This includes a feature where Gmail will link with Sky and host a mail service for Sky, incorporating the email ___domain "@sky.com".

==Awards==

Gmail was ranked second in [[PC World (magazine)|PC World]]'s "The 100 Best Products of 2005",<ref>[http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,120763,pg,12,00.asp PCWorld.com - The 100 Best Products of 2005], retrieved [[14 May]] [[2006]]</ref> behind [[Mozilla Firefox]]. Gmail also won 'Honorable Mention' in the Bottom Line Design Awards 2005.[http://www.bottomlinedesignawards.com/honorable.html] Gmail has drawn many favorable reviews from users because of its available space and unique organization.<ref>[http://mail.google.com/mail/help/reviews.html About Gmail - Reviews], retrieved [[14 May]] [[2006]]</ref>.

==Criticisms==

===Absent features===

The conversation view groups related messages in a linear stack that can be expanded and collapsed. While innovative, it offers no option to differentiate messages that branch off from the original thread. This can occur when mail is sent to multiple recipients who respond individually, or when someone changes the subject line of a message he or she is responding to.

Some features present in several desktop e-mail applications but missing in Gmail are: sorting, "attachment warning," and automatic bounce-back of unwanted mail (imitating a [[mail-daemon]] message). Some of these absent features are offered by other [[webmail]] applications, sometimes for a price. Also, the lack of [[IMAP]] support is the most common complaint according to the [http://gmailfeatures.grytoyr.net/ most wanted Gmail features].

====Non-US interfaces====

Because Google is located primarily in the [[United States]], non-US interfaces may experience a delay in receiving upgrades and features. Google Calendar is not available through all non-US Gmail interfaces. However, if non-US users change their language to ''English (US)'' they can access these services. Support for entering [[bi-directional text]] is currently available only in the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] interfaces. Additionally, the dates displayed in Gmail are in the US MM-DD-YYYY format, which can be confusing to those expecting DD-MM-YYYY (which the rest of the world uses).

===Privacy===

There has been criticism regarding [http://mail.google.com/mail/help/privacy.html Gmail's privacy policy],

for example the clause

"Residual copies of deleted messages and accounts may take up to 60 days to be deleted from our active servers and may remain in our offline backup systems".

Google continues to reply to this criticism by pointing out that Gmail is using mostly industry-wide practices.<ref>[http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/more.html#data Gmail and Privacy], retrieved [[14 May]] [[2006]]</ref> Google later stated that they will "make reasonable efforts to remove deleted information from our systems as quickly as is practical."<ref>[http://mail.google.com/mail/help/more.html]</ref>

Most of the criticism, however, was against Google's plans to add context-sensitive advertisements to e-mails by automatically scanning them. Privacy advocates raised concerns that the plan involved scanning their personal, assumed private, e-mails, and that this was a security problem.<ref>[http://www.epic.org/privacy/gmail/faq.html]</ref> Allowing e-mail content to be read, even by a computer, for advertising purposes, raises the risk that the [[expectation of privacy]] in e-mail will be reduced. Furthermore, non-subscribers' e-mail is scanned by Gmail as well, and these senders of e-mail did not agree to Gmail's terms of service or privacy policy. Also taken into account is the fact that Google can change its privacy policy unilaterally, and that Google is technically able to cross-reference cookies across its information-rich product line to make dossiers on individuals. However, again the practice is standard across all email systems&mdash;it is the only way spam mail checkers can work.

Opponents of these views state that when one's e-mail is checked to see if it is spam, it is being scanned by the same process. Because a human is not reading the message, they say, it is not a problem.

What privacy advocates also consider another problem is the lack of disclosed data retention and correlation policies. It is possible for Google to combine information contained in a person's emails with information about their Internet searches. It is not known how long such information would be kept, and how it could be used. One of the concerns is that it could be of interest to law enforcement agencies. More than 30 privacy and civil rights organizations have urged Google to suspend Gmail service until these issues are resolved.{{fact}}<!-- unfinished ref <ref name="prcc" /> -->

== Naming issues ==

=== Germany ===

[[Image:Google Mail.gif|thumb|The Google Mail logo.]]

* On [[July 4]] [[2005]], Google announced that ''Gmail Deutschland'' would be rebranded to ''Google Mail''. From that point forward, visitors originating from an [[IP address]] determined to be in Germany would be forwarded to <tt>googlemail.com</tt> where they could obtain an [[email address]] containing the new ___domain. Any German user who wants a <tt>gmail.com</tt> address must sign up for an account through a [[Proxy server|proxy]]. German users who were already registered were allowed to keep their old addresses.

=== United Kingdom ===

* On [[October 19]] [[2005]], the [[United Kingdom]] version of Gmail was also converted to ''Google Mail'', because "Gmail" is [[trademark]]ed by another company in the UK.<ref>[http://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en-GB/googlemail.html Google Mail in the UK], retrieved [[14 May]] [[2006]]</ref> Users who registered before the switch to Google Mail faced no problems whatsoever—they were able to keep their Gmail address, although the logo in the top-left corner of their Gmail page appeared as ''Google Mail''. New users would sign up with <tt>googlemail.com</tt> address. Again, a proxy would be used for those wishing to sign up with a <tt>gmail.com</tt> account. If the user had signed up with Google Mail, [[e-mail]] sent to their equivalent address ending in <tt>gmail.com</tt> would still be received.

* On [[December 14]] [[2006]], at a cost of over $4 million dollars, Google obtained the rights to the <tt>gmail.co.uk</tt> ___domain and is now accepting <tt>gmail.com</tt> addresses for United Kingdom users.{{fact}}

==Competition==

{{seealso|Comparison of webmail providers}}

After Gmail's initial announcement and development, many existing web mail services quickly increased their storage capacity. For example, [[MSN Hotmail|Hotmail]] went from giving some users 2MB to 25MB (250MB after 30 days, and 2 GB for Hotmail Plus accounts), while Yahoo! Mail went from 4MB to 100MB (and 2 GB for Yahoo! Mail Plus accounts). Yahoo! Mail storage then proceeded to 250MB, and finally, in late April of 2005, to 1GB. These were all seen as moves to stop existing users from switching to Gmail, and to capitalize on the newly rekindled public interest in web mail services. The desire to catch up was especially visible for [[MSN]] Hotmail, which upgraded its e-mail storage erratically from 250 MB to the new [[Windows Live Mail]] (beta) which includes 2 GB of storage over a number of months. Recently, MSN Hotmail upgraded all free acounts to have 1 GB of storage. In August of 2005, AOL started providing all [[AOL Instant Messenger|AIM]] screen names with their own e-mail accounts with 2 GB of storage. Another example of competition came from [[30Gigs]] who were offering 30 gigabytes of storage, and was also invite only, but now offers free accounts for anyone.

Every account which is inactive for 6 months is labeled dormant, and 3 months later (a total of 9 months), gets deactivated by Gmail. All stored messages get deleted and the account gets "recycled", which means the account name can be used by any other users afterwards. Other [[webmail]] services, like [[Yahoo! Mail]] and Hotmail, have different, often shorter, times for marking an account as inactive. Yahoo! Mail deactivates dormant accounts after four months, while Hotmail deactivates free accounts after two months (previously one).

Other than the general increase of storage limit, there has also been an improvement of the e-mail interfaces of Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail after the launch of Gmail. Gmail's ability to have an attachment size of 10MB was also matched by Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail during 2005. Following the footsteps of Gmail, Yahoo! launched the Yahoo! Mail Beta service and Microsoft launched Windows Live Mail, both now incorporating [[Ajax (programming)|Ajax interfaces]].

Between "Google for your Domain" and [[Google Calendar]], Gmail is competing directly with [[Microsoft Outlook]],[[Outlook Express]] and [[Exchange Server]].

==See also==

{{wikibooks|Gmail}}

*[[List of Google services and tools#Gmail|List of Google services and tools]]

*[[Google File System|Google File System (GFS)]]

===Add-Ins===

*[[PhpGmailDrive]]

*[[Gmail Drive]]

*[[GmailFS]]

*[[RoamDrive]]

*Vombato mail drive

==References==

<div class="references-small">

<references />

</div>

<!-- DO NOT EDIT THE "----" NOR THE </div> KEEP THEM WHERE THEY ARE. REMEMBER TO SIGN! USING FOUR TILDES -->

==External links==

{{sisterlinks|Gmail}}

*[https://mail.google.com/ Gmail]

*[http://GmailTips.com/ Jim's Gmail Tips]

*[http://www.lifehacker.com/software/gmail/ Lifehacker's Gmail Tips]

*[http://netzreport.googlepages.com/gmail_the_problem_with_spam_mails.html Gmail: The problem with spam mails] - shortcomings in the way Gmail handles spam mails

===FAQs===

*[http://www.eff.org/effector/17/13.php#II Google's Gmail: A Rough Guide to Protecting Your Privacy] at [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]]

*[http://www.epic.org/privacy/gmail/faq.html Gmail Privacy FAQ] at [[Electronic Privacy Information Center]]

{{Google Inc.}}

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