Gmail is 15 years old

Back in 2004, e-mail looked very different. The inbox was crammed with spam, and it was just impossible to find real messages or files. In addition, the number of letters was limited, so we had to constantly delete them in order not to exceed the storage limit. We created Gmail to solve these problems, and turned into a product that helps 1.5 billion users complete tasks every day. Today, on the 15th anniversary of Gmail, we will take a look at the past and share plans.

Differ from day one

On April 1, 2004, we launched the Gmail service (despite the date and reasons for joking). It has a built-in powerful search engine Google, for grouping messages in conversation chains, simplifying their search and work with them. It was also possible to store 1 GB of data for free, which is almost 100 times more than was available at that time. It is not surprising that on this day ( international day of laughter / fool ) the whole world thought it was a joke.

In the mid-2000s, e-mail spam was a serious problem. Gmail solved this problem by blocking spam before it even got to the inbox, and also provided people with the ability to report suspicious emails to make email even more secure. Over the past years, we have expanded our ability to filter spam using artificial intelligence, and today AI helps us block about 10 million spam messages every minute. In this video from the distant 2007, our team explains how Gmail is fighting spam.

When the service was launched, before the advent of the first Android-based smartphones, there were still a few years. But as mobile devices began to spread everywhere, Gmail began to move from a desktop-only application towards support on phones and tablets, opening up new horizons of “on-the-go” work. The Gmail inbox categories tabs were the first of their kind to help organize your messages. Artificial intelligence-based features like Smart Reply and Nudges helped you respond to messages faster and stay up to date with your tasks.

Future plans

Gmail has changed a lot over the past 15 years and before we blow out the candles for our birthday, here’s a short list of upcoming new products.

First of all, we aim to make Gmail more useful. You may have already used the Smart Compose, an AI-based feature that helps you write emails faster. This feature introduces over 1 billion characters per week instead of a person. This is enough to fill all the pages of The Lord of the Rings with a circulation of 1000 copies. Today we are updating Smart Compose to include more languages ​​(Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese). ) and transfer it to Android and iOS (previously it was available only on Pixel 3 devices).

Smart Compose is getting smarter if you can talk like that. He will personalize the sentences for you so if you prefer to say “Hello” or “Hello, buddy” in your congratulations, Smart Compose will offer just that. He can also suggest a subject line based on the letter you wrote.

Then you can decide when your email will be delivered to someone else's mailbox. Today we have added a new feature that allows you to schedule sending emails at a more suitable date or time, which is useful if you are working in different time zones or want not to interrupt someone’s vacation.

Finally, now you can act without leaving your mailbox . It became possible to respond to the comment chain in Google Docs, view hotel recommendations and much more directly in emails. Thus, you do not need to open a new tab or application to achieve the goal.

Despite the fact that we launched Gmail on April Fool's Day, over the past 15 years we have not given a reason to treat the service as a joke and look forward to what will happen next.