February 7th, 2009
Gmail usage appears to be closing in on Hotmail
Information Week says that if Gmail’s growth continues at the same rate, we could see Gmail’s user share overtake Hotmail by the end of the year — an impressive feat.
Between December 2007 and December 2008, Gmail’s number of unique monthly visitors in the United States grew 43%, from 20.8 million to 29.6 million, according to ComScore. Windows Live Hotmail lost 5% of its unique monthly visitors during this period, falling from 45.7 million to 43.5 million.
Google still has a long way to go to catch up to Yahoo, but it’s realistic to think that it could happen as soon as 2011 if you look at current growth rates. Part of the reason Google’s email service is becoming so popular is their ability to push out updates and useful features extremely quickly.
For example, one of the newest features they added to Gmail Labs is “multiple inboxes”. This feature is extremely useful for me — when I star a message, or save a draft, it always stays on my main page instead of gradually working its way down my inbox, and then inevitably out of sight (and mind). Previously, starred messages were only accessible by clicking the “starred” link in the sidebar.
Which email service do you use? Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo? Have you noticed people around you making the switch to Gmail? Let’s hear what you think in the Talk Back!
Garett Rogers 
is employed as a programmer for iQmetrix, which specializes in retail management software for the wireless industry.
See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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