Scripps Employees Called 'Hackers' For Exposing Massive Security Flaw
Suspected PayPal Hackers Seek Deal To Stay Out Of Prison
Gmail now with display ads, just like Hotmail and Yahoo
When Gmail launched, one of the key things that differentiated it from its competitors was its complete reliance on highly non-intrusive text ads. Whereas the Yahoos and MSNs of the world were busy giving the word 'skyscraper' new meanings, Google kept it simple. While this may not have been as important to Gmail adoption as the threaded message view, spam filters, or any other features, it did contribute to Google's mail app feeling a bit more humane than others.Google seems to have forgotten all about the above, or simply shows that it has never cared, since reports are coming in that it's running an experiment involving display ads in Gmail. For now, Google says, these will only appear next to messages that are, themselves, heavy in image content. How long before that changes and we'll struggle to even notice our inbox because it will be drowned in display ads on all sides? It's not clear. Nor is it certain that this experiment will ever result in widespread use of display ads on Gmail. But, however limited in scope, this move does represent an interesting and rather big shift for Gmail.
Comments
9
Subscribe to commentslrmJan 28th 2011 11:49AM
Don't adblock extensions still block them though?
SpeedGunJan 28th 2011 12:13PM
@lrm
Indeed.
motangJan 28th 2011 12:15PM
One of the reason's I loved GMail over the other two. Time to use Thunderbird more now.
NyaRJan 28th 2011 1:32PM
Thanks for telling me, I wouldn't have noticed.
BebeJan 28th 2011 7:41PM
I think everyone that reads this blog knows about Adblock. I mean, we dont even see ads here
SilverWaveJan 29th 2011 2:13AM
What are Ads?
Adblock.
OptomizeGoogle.
gidleysJan 29th 2011 3:19AM
AdBlock is no solution to me. I can tolerate this rubbish on emails I receive (and of course AdBlock can help...!) but appending ads to mail I SEND?
Deal-breaker.
jerrinJan 29th 2011 11:10AM
From the point of view of publishers ads allows them to make some money for all the work they put to.Reading a blog and blocking the ads that actually support the blog is taking there work for granted.So dont use adblock and support publishers.
ArnoldJan 30th 2011 10:35AM
Thanks for heads up. I didn't realize Google would be doing this, but it does make sense in terms of advertising dollars. If I were Google, I would use every opportunity to make money. Hopefully thought it won't bee too obnoxious. Thanks again for writing.
Arnold