Gmail moves to next stage
Published: 18 Feb 2005 14:00 GMT
Google is giving more people the chance to sign up for Gmail, but insists the move does not signify an impending full-scale launch of the free email service, which has been in beta since it launched on April 1 last year.
To date Google has been relying on social networking to roll out Gmail, initially inviting some 2,000 people who were then able to invite a limited number of others themselves. This week though, Google started sending invitations directly to those who have signed up to be kept abreast of updates at the service.
"We're sending invitations to those who supported us during the launch," said a Google spokeswoman. But, she said, "this does not mean that we're out of beta [or] offering open subscriptions to the world".
Interest in the service has been high. It made a stir both because it kicked off the move toward bundling significant amounts of storage with free email accounts -- 1GB in this case -- and because of the revenue model, which relies on context-sensitive adverts placed alongside emails as they are read.
Despite privacy concerns over Gmail, the service has proved alluring. Several of ZDNet UK's early stories on the service have almost turned into bulletin boards for people trying to get hold of accounts. A number of utilities have also appeared to help people manage their Gmail accounts.
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