Image : http://www.flickr.com
1. Introduction
This study examines the development of Internet email as a product and evaluate the opportunities and challenges, such as Web-based service products in the face. The purpose of this study, the generic concept of product management and their applicability is valid criticism of the Internet world. The product should be done in the context of the Internet, e-mail with 3 major providers available to evaluate - Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and Microsoft Live Hotmail.
As a means of communication,Internet e-mail has become an indispensable part of everyday life for many people. The penetration of e-mail is almost as high as the penetration of the Internet - such as the application remains the most important and most used anywhere. Even if a free product that is widely regarded by its users for granted, he will continue to develop more innovative features made available through large companies. E-Mail for the first time introduced in 1972, there were no customers demandingfunctionality, but latent directed to communicate a need. In the following years, the functions have been driven by a combination of "necessity" and "technological progress".
E-mail is now widely used for official and personal communication (in some countries allow e-mail as evidence by law) are used. You can not imagine a business card without an e-mail! More importantly, it allows several innovative marketing strategies, offering financial support "capacity" of existing and potential customers. Ondarker side is littered with problems like spam, viruses, phishing, invasion of privacy and security.
2. Evolution of the Internet E-Mail
The first messaging system in MIT have been used since 1965 and the mailbox that SNDMSG to send messages from user to user in the same box. Ray Tomlinson [1], and the invention in 1972, when he credited for the first time the "@" to communicate with other computer address - which is usually the emergence of e-mail messages appear. Until 1974, there were hundredsmilitary users of e-mail on the ARPANET. The first important step was taken when the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) was created - it was a fairly naïve protocol with no mechanism to authenticate the sender, but this is still used with some modifications. Even today some of the original questions of spammers and virus writers can be exploited.
In 1993 he began extensive network of service providers America Online and Delphi, to connect their proprietary email systems combinedInternet to begin large-scale introduction of Internet e-mail as a global standard [2]. As the World Wide Web gained momentum and the need to e-mail from around the world access is created, e-mail began to be service providers via the Web, like Yahoo and Hotmail offered. Although the first e-mail systems are free of charge on a per user per minute on a dial-up, led to the advent of Internet, e-mail almost simultaneously with the free availability.
Hotmail, founded by Sabeer Bhatia and JackSmith in 1996, was an early provider of Internet-based e-mail. Until 1997, Hotmail became so popular that there are companies like Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft are competing to buy out. Start AOL and could not afford the assessment called Sabeer Bhatia for sale. He also drew $ 150 million and $ 350 million by Microsoft to provide $ 400 million, settling finally in early 1998. Hotmail became MSN Hotmail is now Windows Live Hotmail e He had more than 270 million users around the worldsince 2008 [3].
It is interesting to note that pays Yahoo, which was a Web-based enterprise and absolutely necessary to acquire the assets of the Internet, e-mail, but only $ 96 million for rocket mail. He had to act fast as Hotmail has been adding thousands of users per week and quickly gaining user base was critical. E 'brand new state of rocket mail and managed as mail beginning in late 1997. These services are premium e-mail (Yahoo1 Mail Plus), the limits of more storage on the server that had extendedThe safety features, storage, e-mail, free of ads, many plants, etc.
In 2004, Google entered the arena, almost without interruption from an e-mail more storage space, an improved user interface and faster access. Entry Google and MSN Live Hotmail buck Yahoo! invited to mail their offers and play most of the benefits of Gmail. The chain of innovations that followed the entry of user benefits from time to Google - for example, all vendors todayoffer a very large memory e-mail (virtually unlimited) free. The following chart shows the market share of more recent of the three biggies in the web-mail storage and the United States. Google is the fastest growing.
The key to achieving long-term potential of the product in terms of turnover, market share gain - quickly. As people increasingly use the product, they get "stuck" to the product. Although standard mail to ensure interoperability between different providers to e-mailWith regard to e-mail messages can be exchanged and deciphered, does not allow easy transfer of all the old / e-mail stored in another provider. The bottom line is that it is difficult to convince users to migrate to another provider, unless a clear advantage in the new provider or severe pain, evidence points to be eliminated.
Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo, both of the first birds in the field, won the first-mover advantage, there are still benefits. Both deserve a clearOf its income from the participation fee for their premium products, e-mail (as in the above table is specified.) The premise of this business model is designed for users to squeeze the storage quota, forcing it to load storage premium upgrade achieved. Will Google, on the other hand, once wrote the rules. Revenue is generated by scanning the contents of e and put targeted ads to users based on content analysis. Google is strengthits research capabilities and intellectual property, patents, in relation to advertisements for the service on the content (Adsense) is based. To date, the generation of sales GMail seems stronger than that of Yahoo Mail and Windows Live Mail. Google is able to overcome the difficulties (as indicated by the growing base of users of Gmail) its engine late disadvantage with innovative features and a slick better targeted ads. who continue to Yahoo Mail and Hotmail for the benefit of the greatestbasic use of active users and are "technically" in a better position than Gmail to Google Mail's business model adopted - as a larger user base means more responses to ads. This is a room to watch - we believe that these companies have the means to take to target the content of the model and give a run for their money Gmail. Until recently they were using the demographics of users (age, country, hobbies ... etc., the user you specified when you created your account)Display ads, and this method leads to inappropriate targeting what a bad click-through rate.
An accepted fact in marketing, is that there are revenue while the user, who usually deal with advertising around the e-mail as a nuisance. The Internet e-business must therefore strike a balance between displaying annoying advertisements and offers to build a good user experience. Gmail leads the pack in this regard - their advertising text messages and emails are very thin,Leasing produce problems for users. YMail and Hotmail have banners and screen space is overloaded, resulting in less optimal user experience. But with the best content analysis, Gmail is able to display more relevant ads to end users and to maintain the profit potential. The downside is a better alignment and invasion of privacy of users who are concerned about these 'so Gmail.
Mail monetization is determined in the future, go to the "Show" at the start, the reason - Market sharefinally stabilize, if it minimizes any new users, and the function of discrepancy. From it, the more relevant ads, more revenue potential! Advertising is often become local innovation is necessary and this is better than the competition. Company can be a revenue-sharing model to be adopted by users to see more and more customized - for example when a user sends a message to another user, a "voice" display can be incorporated into the message in a waythat is personally relevant to the recipient. Then, when the recipient clicks on the embedded advertising, the sender receives a share of advertising revenue for the parties to choose. The innovations in this area is destined to find many ways and the total assets of gray matter in the big-three open yet interesting mechanisms to generate revenue from free Web mail products.
5. Key Features
This section lists some peculiarities webmail before the peakProduct Guide and the intrinsic properties, the nature and context of the study. Then there are some key features that providers offer in their product and then how these functions contributed to the success of comment.
5.1. Characteristics of Internet e-mail
This section studies some of the unique features of the Internet e-mail as a product, keep the unit or the growth and adoption.
Standards and scale-induced inertia: thebasic e-mail communication between the SMTP server is the format - the simple and elegant, but not easily extensible. Any drastic changes to the protocol would mean that all the other mail systems in the world have their code / product upgrade - this is virtually impossible, since the penetration of e-mail. If it is not given due attention on this issue and a change in the core is trying to be thousands of servers to start rejecting requests and to provide fuel for the entire community of users. ThisThe problem is that the development of some of the basic rules, thus, vulnerabilities exist certain limitations - such as e-mails can be easily spoofed, and invasions spam pervasive as the original protocol does not support sender authentication, etc. for the future is' unlikely that the basic rules will be amended to correct the problem. E 'product liability for a major innovation to solve the above problems within the limits of the measure of punishmentThe plants and use.
Network Effect: When a user's calendar is the Yahoo mail and e-mail to switch to Gmail, then the problems in the management of two separately generated an attractive force that causes only a provider for your needs. And because it's easier with friends on a common product, even though most of my friends are on Gmail, I will work to create a Gmail account. This is the reason why build scale quickly was very important for allPlayers.
Privacy Issues: Google has been criticized for the same user, the analysis of user data if only for ad-targeting. Several privacy advocates believe that Google knows too much about her personal life. Google against a similar claim on the fact that personal data used is not associated with a user ID when it is intended, and that the information collected will be anonymised before. They also argue that the automatic scan of the data is consumedin real time (not always disclosed or retained outside world) and the e-mail address will be visible by anyone. Despite the privacy concerns of Gmail is quickly gaining market share. Due to the nature of its business, Yahoo is not the same influence of Google in this respect. Since Yahoo is essentially a portal for users (including chat, news, weather, real estate, sports, blogs, photos, finance, etc.) is varied, the adoption of the privacy concerns of gmails Yahoo!E-mail scanning technology are literally should be much higher. Home server to store a lot more personal information by users from Google's servers. Maybe that's why Yahoo! uncontrolled e-mail to the organization. (Note that all the services of e-mail e-mail for viruses and other mal-ware scan - this is not the same scan for ad targeting).
In general, privacy concerns also depend on geography - for example, customers in Europe are much more concerned about the invasion of privacyas U.S. customers. In a survey conducted in Britain found that 40% of Britons believe that the free e-mail did not compromise their privacy [6], and another 40% said that their e-mails are scanned. On the other side of the spectrum, most people in India are not careful. to market the product successfully for users of personal data in the future on a sustainable basis should pay due attention to privacy are not up to the invisible line of injuries user alienation. This threshold is setdifferent for each participant - the creation of a source of sustainable competitive advantage (in this case Google).
Free: The product is not intended to end users, without the free availability. The provision of free service allows suppliers to easily on any strict conditions of use requirements. For example, there is no guarantee that the provider when a user deletes an e-mail, the actual content of the information in this e-mail will be deleted forever - so it is possible"Someone (may be public) to obtain data that the user thinks that was canceled.
Some providers continue to show for premium accounts, but one of these studies is a downward trend. For small to medium sized business customers, but a prize may continue to provide a better service, security and individual experience is charged.
Conditions of Use: A very important aspect of free services is that the identification of their condition, which contains allthey are responsible for protecting user data. The service is based on "best try to recover" and "as-is and as-available" philosophy. Most readers do not read so long and how to subscribe by clicking on "Agree" when prompted. They do not realize that the place is not so much of their personal information and critical business infallible - if something goes wrong, the providers have no responsibility. In fact, it is not unusual to get e-mails are not thereTarget, a web-mail user can sometimes be found along the difficult path, but can not help it.
Safety: Most people are not aware that information transmitted via e-mail, despise not encrypted by default and can transit. Gmail offers a simple mechanism to encrypt all e-mail in transit - but only the most demanding users aware of this service. With regard to other security measures, anti-virus and spam filtering for all days. Spam continuesbecome an annoyance for users and suppliers - it seems, everyone has learned to live with spam.
In addition, the webmail providers have not been able (to duplicate the practice of stupid users click a link and online banking sites, etc to get their password) with phishing. In addition, to take advantage of new viruses, vulnerabilities unknown around HTML and JavaScript, and other advanced technologies to infect the computers of end users. There has been only limited successProtection against such threats.
Data Migration: No provider offers its users the opportunity to all e-mail and other content (such as calendars) to migrate to another provider. The intent is for the data too sticky. People do not realize keep this subtle mechanism for users. However, this limits a user to easily create an account with a competitor - only that you use both accounts at once.
5.2. Features that promote the adoption and success
In this section we focus onsome features that had the greatest impact on the success of a product webmail.
Supported languages: given the geographical spread and reach of the Internet, it is essential that the support provider of the national language and all webmail providers have expressed support for multiple languages.
Safety and Security: Spam filtering are antivirus programs, password protection, services, etc., which gives each provider. Google has also turned off. "Exe" files (executable files) is sent in asAttachments.
integrated experience for users: users are looking for one-stop shop to meet all their needs online - in this focus to the webmail providers for providing services such as search, chat, share photos, links, contacts, calendar, etc. from a single point of contact. Users are also fond of reading their e-mail from mobile devices and other access mechanisms. To keep the user connected to webmail providers to find ways to integrate services to provide, and a consistentInterface.
Unlimited free storage: most applications do not use more than a few hundred megabytes of space for several years with e-mail. However, this feature in a "hit" in the webmail providers from a marketing perspective.
Browser compatibility: Most webmail features are designed to work with Internet Explorer, as it is the most used browser, which comes with Windows operating system. However, many users prefer to use other browsers (Firefox, Opera, Safarietc.) on Linux and Mac Webmail must be compatible with all of these browsers - often this will be a huge challenge.
low bandwidth version: to allow dial-up users and mobile users to access e-mail through their slow links, webmail providers need an interface alternative to low-bandwidth capabilities to provide free fantasy.
Spell checker, dictionary, folder / label e-mail functionality organizational, automatic forwarding, etc. Otherfeatures common to all levels.
6. Competition and differentiation
While innovation is the key factor of differentiation must be drawn, unless a sustainable competitive advantage in the back-end technology is not possible to achieve a sustainable advantage over competitors. The reason is simple - all visible features can be easily copied. Thus, the source of competitive advantage in intellectual property (patents) and research backgrounds, and that others can not replicatewithout prejudice. The competitive advantage in the web services domain can have a multiplier effect as well. Google lead to basic research and provides technology AdSense with an advantage in many of its other products, including Gmail. For example, Google pays the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and HP a lot of money to make the hardware like Dell Google Search and Google Mail as standard applications that will be provided. Well, this is a competitive advantage, Yahooand Microsoft are hard to beat. Because of antitrust, Microsoft, despite almost the entire operating system of the housing market does not bundle its technology with the Windows operating system.
Google may have lost some of its technological advantage (content targeting), when the beta launched Gmail in 2004, limiting the creation of new user accounts with the means of introduction only. This hinders the adoption rate of Gmail, and was also the occasion for hisRival equality function, take a look at its products, which in turn has enabled us to achieve the only goal of quick response. Google Gmail users could be rolled with the objective of on-boarding in the first 6 5-10 months [7], and taking YMail and Hotmail so surprised. But this can be done through Google have a strategy well thought-out. As previously discussed the construction of a large user base is crucial to quickly succeed in the long view. Google has a buzz in the marketand was quick to jump on the marketing of Gmail offering 1 GB of space, something unheard of at this time. Riding on the success of its search technology and supported by its financial strength, began to build on advertising, while the back-testing and solve the problem of scalability in the background.
Home was quickly in response to the threat of Gmail - have quickly acquired Oddpost [8] and using their technology, has launched a very successful desktop-like interfaceHome Web mail interface. The two rivals also responded to the large space provided by Google - Yahoo now offers unlimited storage on its free Hotmail account and offers 5, fit enough and Google have passed GB.
Hotmail provides some additional services not offered by other webmail services. It contains an audio player that can play audio clips and voice messages. This has not really caused a significantThe sums on the market. The reason is that real synergies between a product-mail software and the audio is not cold enough to encourage users. The lesson is that innovation is not allowed to run wild in this area - something different than the competition and win universal acceptance is a nontrivial challenge, product managers need to build on top of their agenda.
Another interesting aspect of Google's strategy has been the symbolic signalthe culture of continuous innovation of their products by displaying an important "Beta!" In the upper right. The message is that there's more to come, and then the user always excited about what next! This strategy can also be found on Google Maps!
Gmail has a desktop client that the e-mail system that uses allow users to store files on the servers of Gmail, but does not appear on users 'desktops' as a device for drive-mapping. Thus, if a user saves a file to that drive, the client sends an e-mailautomatically with the notes of the document. However, the customer has not taken away a lot - not everything that Google does everything that needs to be a great success!
Gmail even more differentiated form, presenting a unique view conversation - unlike its competitors, who receive each message as a separate entity. This allows users to follow a conversation in a logical way, without trying to organize or put on the same topic. This differentiation wasone of the key to Google's success, if some user model continues to favor older.
Gmail offers POP3 access free - while others charge for it! - A consequence of the strategy to accept losses Gmail, e-mail while continuing to gain market share.
Yahoo also differentiates its product line from others, offering a unique view on his desk e-mail. Users can move their e-mail by dragging them into folders. Many people simply love this point of view, butWidespread flooding is not in the way of Yahoo, Gmail's reputation as the best research and led to faster access.
7. Marketing Strategies
Viral Marketing
The challenge of marketing a web-based product is to grab a share in the range of people's attention focused. As anyone who has access to the Internet can be a publisher, it is very difficult to draw in a crowd, when all desire is to noise and always noticed. In this environment,Hotmail "viral marketing" approach helped win titles with astonishing speed - during the first 1.5 years, has authored more than 12 million subscribers. For the growth, everything spent on the marketing of $ 500, 000 Hotmail has sent a message "Get your free email at Hotmail" with any message from an existing user. This post has served as an ad and showed a subtle confirmation from the sender. The receiver has signed with the reading of "free e-mail" offer and was automaticallySales Agent for Hotmail subsequent subscription.
New Domain
As a user ID are quickly taken away by a growing user base, you will find unique IDs for users who want to connect with their names would be difficult. People soon find that any combination of name, they are looking for is currently being adopted by someone else. Large users to search for a product ID, which, as far as possible to their real names and easy to remember is to get close. Yahoo has recently introduced a new domain nameTo address this problem - and rocketmail.com ymail.com - this is a very forward-looking strategy to win more users for its email service.
8. The challenges of product management for Next-Gen Internet E-Mail
Challenge 1: Create product synergies across the product portfolio.
Internet e-mail as a standalone product are doomed to failure. Users prefer to point to a single website where they can go through all that they are going to want to access - your e-mail, chat windowDocuments, calendars, contacts, messages, etc. A customer needs in product acquisition strategy for a different product feeds, so that both get a commitment to help users. This is good for the service provider and, because they can collect more behavioral data relevant when targeting a user's activities happen all through a single point of contact. Yahoo, which has essentially a web portal to all user involvement, competitiveness in this sector. By integrating their IM clients (GTalk) withGoogle Mail, Google Gmail is trying to increase the time a user spends and the ability to obtain, therefore, more ads - both in numbers and importance. Home has recently followed the same strategy, integrating messenger YMail!
Challenge 2: In case of ad targeting on a voluntary basis be?
We suggest that a combination of voluntary and involuntary. In addition to offering prizes or paid account can e-mail provider has a better user experience and additional space ifsomeone volunteers for the ad. In this way, the orientation to be better and is able to generate more revenue for vendors. From the point of view, advertising is always the best services and offers probably best in the ads.
Challenge 3: What is the most relevant ads and more discreet service? How to handle ad-blindness
As discussed above, it shall not always normal, if the user's consent. e-mail provider should work with the models, in which the consentad. However, customers may be better to rely on relevant data, and would probably be a separate menu for ads with the proper categorization in e-mail accounts have been useful. Here is the basic requirement is that customers need information to do with the spread of the Internet, online information more important. When information is placed in an appropriate manner, using "pull", but as a format "push" can be more focused and beneficial to allStakeholders, consumers, suppliers and advertisers.
Challenge 4: E-mail can be a disadvantage - their management is increasingly recognized as a complex of business-critical decisions and discussions and archived. The management of a large collection of data is becoming increasingly complex and expensive: This is now a given request. If it is not reliable in service, can be disastrous for the provider. In fact, with a capacity of business continuity, e-mailProviders can generate greater confidence in customers. This continuity is in terms of availability, most archived data on request.
Challenge 5: To e-mail or not, the backup / storage services to offer: It 's clear that the provision of this service, one of the barriers to switching elements have been removed. You can switch from one company to another much easier. Of course, such as phone number, e-mail is also very personal and would remain as the main switching elementBarrier.
Challenge 6: Survival in the world of Twitter and other mechanisms for messaging?
We believe that no utility, as amended, but rather complementary services. e-mail providers should consider how to integrate these mechanisms to promote synergies to users. The basic idea should be to increase traffic and subscribers to its service.
Goal 7: 10% of all spam e-mail, we believe that is an essential part of the technology and the cost of remedy ismost harmful to maintain the growth of e-mail address without that. It 's like the noise in any communication, and time, users can automatically. Of course, the current spam detection mechanism be improved to reduce the "threat" instead of trying to make out at all.
Goal 8: A vision of e-mail?
The product manager has to repeat the basic question -
"Email is just a tool to resolve an internal needof users. What is the problem? What is the real need? "
A re-look at the problem from a new perspective could end up throwing quite a different perspective. The real problem is probably that the user must communicate with each other to work together with others in the system. And communication itself is not the ultimate goal - there are different kinds of reasons to have an understanding. For example, it might be a message on an urgent message that immediate action needs to happen, orThe communication could lead to a long discussion about a particular topic, which are also registered to start, or a message was just a random update or curse of being a communication that could be determined for a single user - private and secure, or message for transmission may be determined. The question is - will e-mail in its present form to solve all these problems? E 'useful to distinguish between the products to build to solve various problems - or does not make sense to build aIntegrated Product Policy, which seeks to solve most problems from a single interface?
Google tries to answer a few questions about this product to their new beta version of Google called Wave (announced in May 2009)! It integrates the different needs of users - chat, e-mail, collaboration, games, documents, dictionary, etc. It 's more than e-mail products - is a collaboration tool, much more than an e-mail offers! E 'in real time - ifTo update a document on the desktop, you can be your friend to see real-time from a remote location. It also allows users to run in rotation in time and provide a representation of sequences of events. These functions are very different from everything that is on the Web and we believe Google and the industry is at another turning point in Google Wave.
