Area Studies

Probably most email users today have multiple email accounts, the need to check email at different locations, and have tried various web email solutions like Yahoo Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, etc. (there are others most of us haven’t heard of).

But the big two are Yahoo Mail and Gmail. Long time provider Yahoo Mail (not sure when it was launched, but I got my account in late 1998) currently has about three times as many users as Gmail, which came about in April 2004. Yahoo Mail has in the past few months added (or re-added) many features that originally drew users to Gmail, so most comparisons of the two are outdated.

I’ve been using the new Gmail and the new Yahoo Mail, both of which are based on Ajax and have fairly simple interfaces. Both have pros and cons:

Sending from other accounts: Since I have a few email addresses from my own domains, and often take extended business trips, the most important feature I’m interested is being able to “send as” those other accounts. Both let you do this (e.g., send from username@areastudies.org, etc.). You can use a pull-down menu to select which account to send from, including the @gmail or @yahoo account. However, Gmail has a fatal flaw in this area; some versions of MS Outlook will display:

From: username@gmail.com [mailto:username@gmail.com] On
Behalf Of username@your_domain

This reveals your Gmail address to those you send to, something I’d prefer not occur, and Gmail does not seem to be interested in fixing it. Yahoo Mail does not do this; if you “send as” that is exactly how the mail will be delivered. After I discovered this, I found myself manually switching from Gmail to Yahoo Mail to reply to some emails in order to protect my Gmail username. For me this was the last straw in giving up Gmail for Yahoo Mail.

Receiving from other accounts: Both can receive email from other POP accounts, and of course both can receive mail forwarded from other accounts, so a draw in this area.

Storage: Yahoo Mail now offers unlimited storage, while Gmail has a limit that is in the several gigabyte range and growing, making Yahoo the winner but not by much.

Organization: Gmail uses threaded messages and “labels,” while Yahoo Mail uses the more traditional folders for organizing messages. I prefer folders and dislike the long threaded message structure, which is another point for Yahoo.

Speed: Gmail loads faster than Yahoo Mail, which can be sluggish at times. Hopefully Yahoo will resolve this issue.

Spam: The Gmail filter is clearly better than the Yahoo Mail filter. But since I still have to check the spam folders for both to ensure that legitimate emails weren’t marked as spam, and since both do still allow some spam into the inbox, it’s not an issue for me.

POP, IMAP, and Forwarding: Both Yahoo Mail and Gmail allow POP access and forwarding (though Yahoo Mail only recently re-allowed that after a few years of not doing so), but only Gmail offers IMAP access. Forwarding is the important feature for me as I forward mail from the non-primary web based account to either my primary web account or my regular POP mail. For those that need IMAP, Gmail is the winner, otherwise a draw.

Other features: There is little significant difference between composing messages, filters, or the calendar and contact features to worry about, and I don’t use chat, so these are all non-issues for me.

There are probably lots of other usability concerns and features that will make one other the other your preferred choice. To sum things up:

Yahoo Mail Pros:

• Can “send as” w/o revealing the Yahoo username
• Organizes messages with traditional folders
• Closest to a desktop email client
• POP and forwarding
• Unlimited storage
• Appearance more customizable

Yahoo Mail Cons:

• The new interface is sometimes slow
• Less than stellar spam protection
• No IMAP
• Appearance can be cluttered with ads*

Gmail Pros:

• Can “send as” from other accounts (see cons)
• Simple, fast interface
• Excellent spam protection
• POP, IMAP, and forwarding
• Storage in the GB range
• Google search from the email client, access to other Google apps

Gmail Cons:

• Username revealed when sent to some versions of MS Outlook
• Threaded message and “labels” structure not for everyone

*Yahoo Mail also offers a “Plus” version for $20/year that removes all ads and offers a few other perks. For a less cluttered interface, this was worth it for me.