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The Downide of Your ISP Turning to Gmail

Posted by kdawson on from the Google-Apps-Partner-Edition dept.

SlinkySausage writes "Google is offering ISPs the opportunity to turn over their entire email operation to Google, with all customer email hosted as Gmail accounts. This would allow Google to grow its user base rapidly (Google is a distant third with 51M users compared to Yahoo's 250M and Hotmail's 228M). There are some obvious benefits to end users — Google is offering ISPs mailboxes of up to 10GB per user. APCMag.com has posted an interesting piece looking at the dark side of Google's offer. Not least is in its reinforcing of the attachment people have to their ISP's email address, making it harder to change ISPs if a better deal comes along."

6 of 266 comments (clear)

  1. Eh? by fabs64 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As opposed to it being so much easier to change your ISP email if it's hosted with your ISP?

    That comment doesn't make any sense.

    Just so you know, the latest versions of Firefox have spell-checking built in :-)

    1. Re:Eh? by Lars512 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The "dark side" does seem to be not very well thought through. Basically, it argues that by giving them a much better email service (for webmail at least), customers might become more attached to their isp-specific email address. So it's actually arguing for worse ISP service, so that nobody will accept it and everyone will choose some more "liberating" mail provider. Give me a break. Better service is better service. It's your own problem if your ISP ties you in this way (they all do), and at least here there's the chance for an easy migration to a generic Gmail account if Google pursues this strategy. Customers didn't even have that chance before.

  2. I don't understand the problem. by khasim · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not least is in its reinforcing of the attachment people have to their ISP's email address, making it harder to change ISPs if a better deal comes along.

    And ... ?

    I don't see what the difference would be. Whether your email is hosted by your ISP or by Google for your ISP. It's the same account name.

    If anything was a problem it would be whether Google would "index" your email so it could target ads at you.
  3. The obvious downside... by teh+moges · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The obvious downside is that Microsoft/MSN would lose customers... What, nobody noticed that the article is one ninemsn (Australia's MSN website)? This website has been known to have one-sided (Microsoft's side) stories and "news".

    1. Re:The obvious downside... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "The obvious downside is that Microsoft/MSN would lose customers... What, nobody noticed that the article is one ninemsn (Australia's MSN website)? This website has been known to have one-sided (Microsoft's side) stories and "news"."

      people probably didn't notice it was ninemsn because it ISN'T a ninemsn article. It is an APC article, APC are anything but Microsoft friendly, they even regularly ship linux distros on there included DVD/CD they ship with the magazine.

  4. IMAP!!! by mrchaotica · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If the ISP had IMAP support, that'd be a downside right there, since Gmail still doesn't!

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz