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Dear Hotmail: I won't take you seriously until you cut this crap out
I'm a GMail user. I've been a GMail user for years, and I'm not likely to stop using it any time soon. I was, however, excited by all the improvements in Microsoft's latest update to Hotmail. Competition is good, after all -- and a better Hotmail should lead to improvements and innovation in other webmail apps.
When reading about the changes you probably noticed a number of bloggers talking about how Microsoft was taking aim at GMail with the new features -- specifically Office Web Apps integration. But there's one failing which prevents me from considering Hotmail to be a real alternative to GMail. What is it?
Those ridiculous, Incredimail-esque footer advertisements.
If you want me to take Hotmail seriously, Microsoft, stop modifying my email messages that way. It's one thing to stamp a simple "sent from my iPhone/Blackberry/Hotmail account" tagline, but tacking on a link to a contest entry? I'm not certain it happens on every single message, but I sent half a dozen to myself while doing up this post and they all contained the link in my screencap.
I certainly couldn't use Hotmail for professional comminquées with those add-ons. "I'm contacting you to conduct business in via email... and by the way, you should totally check out the awesome, free prizes you may already have won!" No thanks.
Much as I sometimes dislike the text ads cluttering up my GMail inbox, they're a thousand times more tolerable than promotional add-ons to my sent mail items. At least GMail thinks the body of my email message is mine and not theirs to modify (however subtly).
When reading about the changes you probably noticed a number of bloggers talking about how Microsoft was taking aim at GMail with the new features -- specifically Office Web Apps integration. But there's one failing which prevents me from considering Hotmail to be a real alternative to GMail. What is it?
Those ridiculous, Incredimail-esque footer advertisements.
If you want me to take Hotmail seriously, Microsoft, stop modifying my email messages that way. It's one thing to stamp a simple "sent from my iPhone/Blackberry/Hotmail account" tagline, but tacking on a link to a contest entry? I'm not certain it happens on every single message, but I sent half a dozen to myself while doing up this post and they all contained the link in my screencap.
I certainly couldn't use Hotmail for professional comminquées with those add-ons. "I'm contacting you to conduct business in via email... and by the way, you should totally check out the awesome, free prizes you may already have won!" No thanks.
Much as I sometimes dislike the text ads cluttering up my GMail inbox, they're a thousand times more tolerable than promotional add-ons to my sent mail items. At least GMail thinks the body of my email message is mine and not theirs to modify (however subtly).
Average users might be fine with these insertions, but I have a feeling that more tech-savvy types will find them every bit as bothersome as I do.
Comments
31
Subscribe to commentsekefsterMay 18th 2010 3:22PM
Well tech-save types would prefer using their own domains over hotmail or gmail. But that's just what I think...
clonedMay 18th 2010 3:25PM
You can use gmail with your own domain. its called Google Apps and it works great.
GeirMay 18th 2010 3:33PM
You can use your own domain with both Hotmail and GMail.
clonedMay 18th 2010 3:24PM
100% agree
Level 5May 18th 2010 3:24PM
Weird, I think this only happens via webmail for Hotmail. I use my Live account through G-Mail, and when using G-Mail or my Android device to send mail through this account, I don't get these. I have G-Mail set to use Live's SMTP server, they aren't sent through G-Mail. Strange.
BrdystylsMay 18th 2010 3:38PM
He was talking about hotmail. Not Gmail having this.
Level 5May 18th 2010 4:50PM
Try reading what I wrote again there, champ. I use Live's SMTP servers to send out e-mail within G-Mail. It doesn't matter what client I use, they ALL would behave this way. The point I was trying to prove is that it's the web interface that amends the messages in this way.
WilliamAlemanMay 18th 2010 3:41PM
I'm convinced from maybe moving from Gmail to Hotmail with this new upgrades and the support for new technologies.
But that thing, they put under the message is stupid.
BrdystylsMay 18th 2010 3:37PM
Long time hotmail user account given to me by my parents. And these adverts at the bottom has been annoyingly there since the late 90's. There have been many complaints about these and why I have a hotmail account for spam and stupid must register to use crap. Otherwise I use gmail for conducting business. I hate MS for this crap adware at the bottom of my emails. It's BS.
Brett N.May 18th 2010 3:51PM
Amen.
SpankyMay 18th 2010 9:09PM
I knew it!!! I should go to the casino because I knew MSFT would find a way to screw this up.
Is Microsoft really making that much money off those little crappy ads? A tenth of a penny? Less?
All the work that the Microsoft team put into improving this product and some a$$hole in Microsoft came around and whined about how they just had to have the revenue from the ads in Hotmail to justify their bogus marketing plans.
I went to check on my Hotmail account which I hadn't accessed in about a year and sure enough, it's filled with crapola. I've got requests to join people and groups and things and the MSFT spam filter doesn't seem to stop much, if at all.
Of course, every time they can get a gullible user to reply to the spam with a "Please unsubscribe me!" email, MSFT makes a tenth of a cent.
Looooooooosssers.
SimonMay 18th 2010 4:21PM
I am an MS employee in the Hotmail group and I'm 99% sure that the next major release of Hotmail will disable those ads. My dogfood account doesn't add them, and we try to make that environment as close to the production environment as possible. Apparently our PR team doesn't see that as something to brag about.
As an interesting side note, if you use the current desktop mail client or Outlook Connector, it doesn't attach the footer ads and never has, as I understand it.
SpankyMay 18th 2010 9:15PM
Credit where credit is due...
Simon, you guys did a great job on the new version. I'm certain it was a ton of work and you should be proud.
If the dogfood version doesn't have the ads, there's very little to complain about here.
Other than the fact that you would think that someone in the MSFT marketing department would given enough of a damn about the launch of the new product to ensure that the freaking ads weren't there when it was time to go live on this stuff. Hell, it would have been better to suppress them for a month or two post-launch if they had to be there. Your marketing department sucks the dog t'aint and I really don't know how you go about your day in Redmond not wanting to throw spitballs at them.
PeterMay 19th 2010 9:17PM
@Simon - I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume everything you wrote is true. However, if we've just seen this major update, I'm going to guess the "next major release" is at least a year away. So teasing us with the fact that you believe the ads are going to be removed a year from now, isn't exactly encouraging.
SimonMay 20th 2010 1:33PM
@Peter I'm talking about this next major release that's occurring this summer. I've talked to some superiors about this and I'm hoping that they'll have more official confirmation on this out soon.
WilliamNighthawkMay 18th 2010 4:23PM
I would think that a truly technology savvy person wouldn't have time to look at the bottom of his emails, they'd rather send them and be done with them. Especially when they're being sent to you on hotmail. If you're looking at it from a business perspective than you'd probably be using your email address and software from a hosted server. That is what a true tech-savvy person would do, or maybe I'm just lazy and don't care about the tiny advertisement at the bottom.
Ace TaikulaMay 21st 2010 1:34PM
It's unprofessional. Business letters on paper--company letterhead--are composed thoughtfully from top to bottom. They don't have tacky ads inserted at the bottom for Amazing Ginsu Knives or for any other off-topic item that just happens to come up by the luck of the draw.
Free is good? Gmail is free. Google respects your correspondence more than this. They understand the word 'professional.' That's why I use Gmail.
When I see an ad for the Amazing Ginsu Knives inserted into serious correspondence, I learn a great deal about Microsoft's and Yahoo's notions of professionalism, and the sender's. As the writer points out, it's tantamount to an announcement: 'We're clowns. Don't take this seriously.'
st3adyMay 18th 2010 4:57PM
it bugs me too
thank goodness for good ole gmail
Kenn.keeperMay 18th 2010 4:34PM
You may wish to try this simple solution....
Add to your signature," I do not endorse any advertising found at bottom of this email.
It is put there automatically from email provider....."
Free is Good....
kenn
Ace TaikulaMay 21st 2010 1:44PM
Gmail inserts no distracting ads, so you have no need for distracting disclaimers. Your correspondence stays on message.
Free AND professional. That's not just good. That's superior.