[expisp]

Read this article, and ask yourself: How effective is my email campaign going to be when they land in a Gmail Account?

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Gmail: the Next Gator?
http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3344391
By Pamela Parker | April 23, 2004

E-mail marketers may be surprised to learn what happens when recipients see their messages in Google's soon-to-debut, ad-supported e-mail application. Messages contain ads for competitors' products, ClickZ News tests revealed.

Because the contextual ads are targeted based on e-mail message content, as determined by Google's technology, commercial messages are the ones most likely to trigger ads. That's because they're most likely to contain commercial product or brand names, for which Google's AdWords advertisers frequently buy keywords.

A recent e-mail newsletter from Neiman Marcus triggered ads with the headlines "Kate Spade Handbags," "Ferragamo at Neoluxury" and "Prada Handbags." Listings were for BizRate.com, Neoluxury.com and FinestDesigners.com, respectively. All this resulted from the Neiman Marcus e-mail subject line: "Salvatore Ferragamo: Shop the spring collection of shoes, handbags, and more." (The main message was in graphics files, none of which display by default in the Gmail client. In such situations, only the competitors' ads appear, unless a user clicks to display external images.) Neiman Marcus declined to comment, as did other e-mail marketers and e-mail service bureaus ClickZ contacted.

Another example: a Travelocity mailing that triggered ads from Hotwire, Cheapfares.com and TravelFleaMarket.com. All are Travelocity competitors. Similar situations occur with publishers' e-mail newsletters, which are often ad-supported; and transactional e-mail, such as online bill statements or order confirmations.

The combination of the e-mail marketing and contextual ads effectively creates a competitive ad environment. It's analogous to McDonald's paying someone to wear a McDonald's-branded sandwich board in front of a Burger King. In the interactive arena, it's akin to the kind of competitive pop-up ads that have generated controversy (and legal action) for Claria.

"Google targets ads based on the text of a message," said a Google spokesperson. "If a message contains information about a service or product, Gmail may display a competitor's ad. This is a benefit to users because it provides additional relevant information that enables them to make informed decisions."

If Gmail is released more widely in its current form, the competitive environment is certain to intensify. Google recently shifted its trademark policy to allow advertisers to bid on trademarked keywords. Hypothetically, a message from Banana Republic (for example) could, simply because of its subject line, trigger ads from J. Crew, Eddie Bauer and the like.
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[Onyx]

If I've taken the time to sign up for an email newsletter then I'll read through it. Who cares if there are ads that offer competitive products - I never buy anything without checking out the competition anyway! And if I didnt sign up for the mail then I really couldn't care less whose adverts pop up next to it as it's unlikely I'll even read it!

What Google is doing is no bad thing. When I log into my Hotmail account it displays ads, but they're of a random nature. It doesn't detract my attention from what I'm reading. I may notice it, but I'll never click it until I'm finished looking at what is in my mail.

Much has been said about the GMail service - and I'm a strong believer in privacy rights - but I feel most of it is directed at the fact that Google are trying to do something no one else dares to do. If Google had have offered a restrcited 6MB service I think most reports would have focused on them entering an already crowded market, Because they want to be different journalist have to dig and scraoe for something more interesting. I for one won't pay any attention! But then I won't have a GMail account either

Just my thoughts.

[eric996]

I heard that people scan the messages therefore invading ones privacy.

They do offer tons of space and are probably going to add extra features on to the gmail service, but I'm not going to use it.

[ericesquire]

I'm not quite sure how I feel about it - as long as the system doesn't scan my E-mails and store them for future reference/research I guess I'm OK with it. If it's a surface scan for ads and then all the info is deleted, no biggie.

I don't really care anyways, I have unlimited space with all of my domain names

[Onyx]

Google have stated that your email will never be read by humans, it's all done by machine. The privacy policy is a bit scarey though. It statest hat even if you cancel your account Google have the right to store your information for an unspecified period of time!

I really wouldn't get too bothered about it personally though. If I use a free service I never expect absolute privacy or security. And imagine just how many billions of emails a service like Hotmail handles each day. Do you think they're gonna be reading *your* mail? That would be incredible odds, and as a betting man I'm quite happy with those odds