8 Aug
GMail, and Receptivity
So, Google does a lot of smart things, and they make a lot of money doing them. I know I have clicked on my share of text ads and sponsored links in my day—all while I was actually searching for a product or service. In other words, when I am receptive to a message, and I am looking for that message, I am likely to respond to that message. And I do.
But I wonder how much GMail is adding to those profits. I am not necessarily skeptical, I’m just admitting I don’t know. As many links as I have clicked on in my life, I can’t say I have ever clicked on an ad from my GMail page—EVER. Sure, they are the same ads, and they are “contextual”, I suppose, but when I am checking my EMail—in other words, when I am getting info pushed to me, and I am not doing the pulling—I am not as receptive to advertising. In fact, sample of one, I am not receptive at all. I wonder if this receptivity phenomenon has been studied by Google and what they make of it.
GMail boosters will note that there is still value for Google in having access to all of that text and being able to continually get smarter in all the Googly things it does, but surely when they have such a vast trove of data there is a point of diminishing returns—and I am curious whether or not that return justifies what has to be an enormous expense maintaining all of those EMail servers.
Anyone shed any light on this? Note to Google—even if my speculation is correct, for God’s sake don’t shut down GMail.
