When Google debuted its Gmail e-mail service in 2004, the Internet community thought it was a joke. Not just because the service debuted on April Fool's Day, but because Google promised storage space of 1 gigabyte - for starters. Its competitors, like Hotmail, offered 2 megabytes of storage, with paying customers eligible for an additional 2 megabytes.
However, as Google enjoys its online dominance by upping the offering to 15 gigabytes across three of its key services, perhaps the Menlo Park-based company is the one having the last laugh.
Trimming the fat
Google pointed to the declining usage of Reader as one reason for its discontinuation, where the function of iGoogle was now being served better by various applications and mobile web portals.
Google consolidation
most popular e-mail platform
By uniting three of its services by giving them shared storage space, Google is attempting to tackle its two main challengers in one maneuver. Dropbox, for example, gives standard users only 2 gigabytes of space to start with, for a maximum of 18 gigabytes if they refer more users. Users who pay can claim anywhere from 100 gigabytes to 1 terabyte - but with Google offering 15 gigabytes of storage for free, Dropbox's basic plan is looking very basic indeed.
Google+, Drive and Gmail vs. Facebook
In light of Facebook's iron-clad grasp on social media, Google+ has struggled for adoption; the former has over 1 billion active users per month, but Google+ tops out at 235 million (despite 500 million registered members).
The New Google
sharing of 15 gigabytes e-mail or cloud storage
Unless, that is, they want to play an April Fool's joke on everyone.
