Dex blogged earlier about the possibility of Google hosting your corporate email. Earlier today, links to this Google service has been spreading around and we got a tip pointing us to such:
This special beta test lets you give Gmail, Google’s webmail service, to every user at your domain. Gmail for your domain is hosted by Google, so there’s no hardware or software for you to install or maintain.
So now, all you need is a registered domain and Google will host the rest. You’d get 2GB of inbox space allocation, and a control panel to easily manage user accounts, aliases and mailing lists.
Gmail for your domain is currently available as a limited beta. If your organization is interested in helping Google test this service, we’ll consider your domain for this beta. You’ll need to sign in with a Google Account (or get a new one), and answer a few quick questions about your organization and your email needs.
If you’re interested to go on as beta tester for this service, just fill up the application form here.
This could potentially kill mail hosting providers.
18 comments
this is one smart move from google that no one see coming.. they are not interested to compete on a $10 per month mail hosting service from small time providers, they are trying to penetrate the corporate side of their market (since most people online they denote as individual).. corporate people means working people; working people means salary; the higher the salary, the higher their buying power is; and providing free email equates to free advertising without paying anyone to display their google adsense.. really fascinating..
this is one smart move from google that no one see coming.. they are not interested to compete on a $10 per month mail hosting service from small time providers, oh no.. they are tyring to penetrate the corporate side of their market (since regular people online they denote as individuals) corporate people means corporate clickers; working people means salary and wages; the higher the salary, the higher the buying power is; and free corporate emails equates to a free advertising solution for them without paying google adsense advertisers.. really fascinating eih..?
just recommenting, my first comment ddnt show up.. anyway, its not low cost mail hosting provider they are trying to put out of business, its actually google adsenser advertisers.. by sponsoring corporate mail client, it serves as a way for them to advertise on a market who obviously have a higher buying power because they have this thing called work.. corporate clickers means higher buying capability; real buyers makes a happy business owners; happy business owners equates to satisfied customers of, you guess it right, google advertising.. satisfied customers are repeat customers, and so on and so forth..
a nice move if i must say, but what is google up to hosting my data? of course they can draw a map of how, where my data is going, my associates. Of course http://www.tek-serv.com is still new in the market, and will signing up will boost its PR then?.
I’m in the beta program, here are some screen shots of the admin CP http://gia.negative-logic.com/archives/40
I really like this service so far. Yet another great idea by Google.
OMG, I found another stupid acts of wrencelot…..
karlopogi, i guess i am stupid.. anyway back to the subject, i just got an email from google today, to be one of their beta tester for this awesome gmail for your domain for Hane.PH! users, and i was like wow.. and, the cool part is that, they selected Hane.PH! without me sending them an application.. although they kicked me off from their google adsense (basically my fault) but still, hehe..
im not sure if i really did send them an application but i remember i sent them for my other website.. still super cool..
There is an angle to this that some people don’t see—how sure are we that Google will keep the corporate information confidential. How sure are we that their employees won’t peek at the mail?
whether its corporate users or not no one is sure.. i read their terms of agreement and there it says that when i get aware that there is a breech on privacy i can always suspend one or all accounts or notify them instead and they will do the necessary actions.. i guess its just a matter of trust.. these days, who wouldnt trust google..?
“Hane.PH! now comes with a FREE 2 Gig Email (your desired username @ hane.ph ), Powered by Google” – so cool..
bloggermentarist,
I see. You are actually after the domain name. The catch I see here is that Google will be offering ads to your email subscribers. Some get turned off by that. Some companies don’t trust Google with their corporate data.
Google is shooting for the small enterprises that want an email address but don’t want to be hassled by the technical aspects of it, or they don’t want to hire tech guy to manage it.
Doesn’t your web hosting provider give POP3? Ploghost and Dreamhost and Godaddy do.
gmail IS already offering ads to its gmail public users.. anyway i can always opt to still use my corporate email server whenever i want to, and let the gmail for my domain to my users which is basically business owners in the phil, which google probably knows by now it would be.. just the thought of a small time, budding company like mine spotted by google as a potential is enough for me already, i mean, anyone else there..?
my hosting service do HAVE pop3.. actually Hane.PH! herself is a webhosting reseller as well, exclusive for Hane.PH! users tho, and plans are going on so that each package comes with free google adwords.. google wins, i win too..
Sorry I don’t get your business model. You are a webhosting reseller yet you will allow gmail to host your email? As a corporate man myself, it speaks of several things, either
1. You don’t have the funds or resources
2. You don’t have the technical expertise
3. You aren’t really a webhosting reseller
Of the many webhosting services, email is one of the simplest…
Sorry but it does look a little silly, being a webhosting company and yet can’t host email yourself. If I were a company wanting to be hosted on your servers, I wouldn’t want my domain to be hane.ph, I would want it to be MY OWN domain. I think the objective is for your own corporate employees to use the hane.ph domain, not your customers.
Anyway, good luck with your endeavour…
mon, my business model is my weapon.. lets just say its a recipe.. a secret recipe.. if i hand it over to every skeptic they can just go and make one for themselves and thats not good for the business isnt it..?
i have this blog, hane.ph’s blog actually, that tells akmost everything whats going on inside and behind hane.ph.. read it you might get your answers..
and thanks.. been in business for less than a month i already got a major sponsor.. so far so good i guess..
@mon – 2GB is Gmail’s max space for hosted domains, maybe his reseller account is only 3GB…
ngayon ko lang nakita tong post na to… @wrencelot – no one see this coming from google? somebody’s offering this service way way way waaaayyyy before google… 🙂
Bloggermentarist,
A business model need not be proprietary. For example, Microsoft’s business model is based on obtaining revenue software licenses. IBM changed its business model from primarily hardware mainframe systems to a “service-oriented” (consultancy, BPO, etc.) model. Google’s business model is advertisement. In fact, it will be detrimental for you if you keep it a secret because investors will be wary to put money in it.
I have read it but the model is quite vague. Am wondering how you will monetize your website. Having a web presence and your own email domain name may sound cool, but unless you can transform this to cash, then you may not recoup your investment.
As such, upon reading your privacy policy and TOS, it does appear that your website may send spam to those who enroll. From myour privacy policy: “We collect visitor’s contact information , unique identifiers, financial information , and demographic information . Contact information from the order form is used to send orders, information about our company, and promotional material from some of our partners to our customers…We use contact data from our surveys to send the user information about our company and promotional material from some of our partners. The customer’s contact information is also used to contact the visitor when necessary and shared with other companies who may want to contact our visitors.”
Unless the model is clarified, some people will view this as simply an aggregation of contact information. Moreover, if you will be sending information to external parties, what is your process to validate that the information is correct?
I had mentioned that it takes more than tech skills to enhance your career. It also takes more than tech skills to run a business.