Free Webmail Accounts
Free email accounts provide a vast amount of people a quick and simple means of communication that requires merely a connection to the Internet. Free email or webmail is different from such programs as Microsoft Outlook, which requires the purchase and installation of an application in order to access and manage email. This widespread availability is funded by the revenue generated by the ads displayed whenever a user logs on or by affiliate companies allowed to send ads directly to users’ inboxes. The major free email providers are:
Hotmail
Hotmail has the distinction of being one of the first and most popular free webmail services available[1]. Hotmail was launched in the mid-1990s and within two years could boast nearly nine million users. In 1997 Microsoft purchased Hotmail for almost a half a billion dollars. Under Microsoft’s management the service’s name changed slightly, but its user base continued to grow until by 1999 Hotmail had 30 million members. It is now one of the largest free webmail services with approximately 260 million registered accounts. Its latest moniker is Windows Live Hotmail.
Yahoo! Mail
A company called Four11 designed the precursor to Yahoo! Mail with a system called Rocketmail[2]. Four11 introduced their web-based email service roughly two years after Hotmail came out. Yahoo! executives realized that they needed a way to get involved in the free webmail arena because of the huge number of people who were using such services. However, the just as quickly realized that devoting the time and resources to develop their own service would put them too far behind the competition. Therefore it was decided that the acquisition of a preexisting webmail service was the best and only alternative. Yahoo! Was able to purchase Four11 for less than half of what Microsoft had shelled out for Hotmail. Today Yahoo! Mail has the most users when measured against its closest competitors.
AOL
AOL webmail was at first tied to the company’s suite of Internet-based software applications. In 1998 AOL bought an Israeli company called Mirabilis for $400 million[3]. Mirabilis had developed a free service known as ICQ (short for I Seek You), which was a downloadable instant messaging program. Using this technology AOL was able to develop its AIM service (AOL Instant Messenger). Today, AOL offers free webmail accounts much like its competitors.
Gmail
Google announced Gmail in early 2004[4]. Initially a select group of people were offered Gmail accounts with a subsequent limited ability to extend invitations to new users. Gmail offered a smoother interface a considerably greater amount of email storage capability, and the absence of gaudy and annoying banner ads with targeted text-based ads. These features rapidly caused a great deal of excitement among webmail users. This in turn spurred the other major players in the industry to update and release new versions of their email services. In 2006 and 2007 Yahoo! And then Microsoft released their upgraded versions of their popular webmail services to compete with the new features that Gmail was pioneering.
Common Webmail Features
As potential users now have several major free email services from which to choose the various providers continue to race to make their particular brand stand out. Whatever the service most have the following features in common:
Cavernous amounts of storage space. AOL and Yahoo! offer an unlimited amount of storage space, Windows Live Hotmail comes with five gigabytes of space, and Gmail comes with roughly 6600 megabytes. This type if storage capability is more than the average user will ever need. However, prolific users and those who routinely receive large attachments find this feature critical.
Spam filters and security. Each of the major webmail services come with some variety of spam filter. This technology is always progressing to try and keep up with the latest schemes devised by junk mailers. Webmail users can usually adjust the sensitivity of their spam filter to a level that makes sense for the amount of spam traffic they receive. In addition to spam filters a free webmail account will often come with the ability to preview potentially dangerous emails without opening them. Virus scanning is often included as well.
Spiffy organizational features. Helping their users keep their inboxes clutter-free and making specific emails easier to find is a major concern of most of the webmail providers. With the launch of new versions of email services that Gmail’s introduction spurred cam such things as drag and drop sorting, search bar email locators, etc.
Bells and whistles. The ability to customize one’s email experience has become quite popular in recent years. Common among these features are the ability to change your color scheme, add special icons or designate certain colors for specific senders, etc. The more fun or interesting your inbox looks the more likely a user is to come back again and again.
Instant messengers. All the major free webmail brands bundle instant messenger software with access to a new account. This capability offers yet a faster way for people to communicate. An email account’s contact list forms the basis for messenger contacts.
References
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Hotmail
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo%21_Mail