OT- Gmail invites?

[xavsbud at gmail.com (David Winchell)]

Guys,

Thanks for all the insightful knowledge that is now duplicated in my
understanding of how the ads get into my gmail account ( I actually
read the terms and conditions of use when I signed up for my gmail
account and all that was clearly explained and understood at that
time.)  I am very happy with the layout of the web based format that
is used for gmail.  I really like the way it keeps "conversations"
together so that threads can be easily followed with out having to
search through my inbox to see where a praticular thread has flowed.

My inquiry was to the fact that as of this posting (I have had my
gmail account now for several days) I have only received mail from the
scirocco.org list.  None of this mail has had advertisements show up
on the screen as I imagined it would.  Corresponding to that I have
not yet recieved any invites to pass to others.  My question to others
with gmail accounts and my prequalified theory is concerned with the
association between content that would trigger ad placement and
invitations to pass to others. In other words am I not going to get
the ability to pass on invitations until google's filters pick up on
content that will allow its sponsers to peddle wares and services in
my direction.

I am not concerned with security issues as any mail that is of a
secure nature for me or my company is handled with encryption software
on a secure server that keeps out possible prying eyes. The only email
I am concerened about being secure is that mail which is intended for
my clients and their respective privacy. I have other web based email
accounts and have used them for years. This is in my opinion the best
out there.

Now that I have made it clear as mud, I hope those that responed will
not take offense as none was intended.  I have seen how emotions tend
to become flaired when no offense was intended on the part of the
sender.  I was just stating facts regarding my observations regarding
my own gmail account and was curious as to the heppenings of others
lucky enough to a gmail account.

Dave Winchell, II
87 Scirocco 16V 2.0L (Currently lawn sculpture at Al's house)
86 Scirocco 8V (now living again waiting to be legal in the U.S.)


On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 18:22:01 -0400, Marc Getty <marc.getty@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Well put Jody! If I were to trust the privacy of my e-mail to any
> corporation, Google would be high on my list.
> 
> BTW: If you contribute any valuable feedback, especially a bug
> notification, to gMail, then they reward you with more invites.
> 
> -Marc
> 
> '81 VW Mk1 Scirocco             Philadelphia, PA
> '84 VW GTI Bunny Truck          marc@getty.net
> '02 MB C230 Kompressor          AIM: DaMarcDaMarc
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org
> [mailto:scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org] On Behalf Of jody
> Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 6:16 PM
> To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> Subject: Re[2]: OT- Gmail invites?
> 
> alright lets clear the air...poor google does a good thing and
> eveyrone hates them for it.  trust me...the ad system and screen for
> gamil is a lot, and i mean a lot nicer than hotmail/yahoo and the
> like.  faster as well...when it works (more on that).  heres an
> example of how the ads work for those that dont have an account...or
> cannot grasp the theory behind it.
> 
> i was conversing with a gentleman about buying a hitch for my mk3
> jetta.  we had sent a couple messages back and forth.  this is a pic
> of the screen shot fo the email thread. ads that show up are based on
> keywords in the message...no different than the ads at the bottom of
> VWVortex that show ads for keywords in the threads. they try to target
> what you are talking about by filtering the words.  google doesn't
> care what your talkin about...nor does anyone actually see what you
> are talking about unless they want to.
> but guess what?  hotmail/yahoo can too, deal with it.  your email is
> not safe anywhere, period. they just want you to click through to the
> advertisers paying them.
> 
> http://www.31daysinsk.com/screen-1.jpg
> 
> basically a computer filters the messages sees the word 'hitch', cross
> references with what they got on file for paid advertisers and pastes
> them in.  and there is no banner ads or emails sent to you or anything
> like that.  to be truthfully honest i barely even noticed they were
> there.
> 
> as for how gmail works...i like it.  i hate webbased, but the way it
> 'stacks' all our replies and keeps things organized, i dont mind it at
> all.  my only issue right now is that during the day, its kinda iffy
> to get in to your email sometimes.  lotsa 'busy' messages, but it is
> techincally beta testing we are doing yet so no complaints...i just
> wont use it for anything that might be important.
> 
> the invites i imagine are a random thing that gmail keeps track of.
> they will only give out more invites when there servers are ready for
> more people.  simple.  right now they are still trying to gauge what
> kind of server response times they are getting with the storage of so
> much mail...i would imagine there is a system as to WHO gets the
> invites, but as for how many...i bet that is out of the control of the
> end-user.  they will not give out more invites than their servers can
> handle.
> 
> as for privacy, they are no worse in the user agreement than any other
> free webbased email service, or your own ISP for that matter.
> basically if you dont want someone else knowing what you are
> saying...then just say it to the ears you want to hear, simple.  gotta
> use your head on the internet and google is no more evil than any
> other company out there.  they are just trying to put together an ad
> system that makes sense...the general public is just not able
> understand the idea of an actually intelligent advertising
> system...therefore fear is insited because they heard the word
> filtered and assume that means someone watching the messages and all
> this bad talk about google flies everywhere.
> 
> in conclusion...i've said it before and i will say it again.  gmail
> gets my two thumbs up as far as webbased email goes.  and i would
> rather see ads about hitches in my conversations about hitches than i
> would ads for feminine products or hair removal. HTH that helps anyone
> with questions about gmail.
> 
> jody
> 
> M> T Berk wrote:
> 
> >> btw- Folks?,  be aware that the offsetting reason Google is
> offering
> >> both 'free' email and such a large mail box is they are filtering
> the
> >> mail that you get for key words and using the results to send you
> >> targeted ads that relate to subjects they think you might be
> interested in.
> 
> M> They're not "sending" you targeted ads.  They place the ads in the 
> M> same piece of screen real estate as when you use Google for a
> search,
> M> so you're not getting spam from Google in your inbox...  While I'm
> M> the first to be alarmed at anyone "spying" on my emails, there is
> no
> M> human looking through my emails, and the only time any human will
> M> read ANY of my mail stored at Gmail is with a search warrant.
> Still
> M> makes me feel a bit weird, but I'm sure Yahoo and Hotmail are no
> 
> 
> less "secure"...
> 
> M> Mark.
> M> 75
> M> 77
> M> 80 S
> M> 81 S
> M> 81 S  2.0 ABA/JH
> 
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> 
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-- 
David L. Winchell, II
'87 Scirocco 2.0L 16V
'86 Scirocco
'01 Galant V6
'00 Silverado