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 行业动态：Gmail挑起电子邮件大战微软MSN Hotmail 免费用户将扩容至２５０Ｍ （转贴） |
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安普若
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[个人文集]
头衔: 海归元勋
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加入时间: 2004/02/21
文章: 26038
来自: 中国美国的飞机上
海归分: 4196257
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作者：安普若 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
E-mail wars heat up as Microsoft's Hotmail expands free capacity
Thu Jun 24, 5:28 PM ET Add Technology - AFP to My Yahoo!
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The e-mail wars heated up as Microsoft announced a massive increase in storage capacity for its free Hotmail customers, countering Yahoo as the two rivals look to head off a challenge from Google.
Microsoft said it would offer its free MSN Hotmail customers in "multiple markets" 250 megabytes of storage, up from 2.5 megabytes. That is more than double the 100 megabytes offered for free by Yahoo, which recently boosted its capacity.
Both Microsoft and Yahoo are seeking to fend off a challenge from Google, which plans to offer free e-mail accounts with a full gigabyte of storage capacity, representing some 500,000 pages.
Microsoft said it would start making upgrades for its 170 million customers worldwide, along with free anti-virus scanning of incoming e-mails, in early July. The new capacity limits take effect "later this summer."
Separately, Ask Jeeves, which operates several Internet portals, said it would offer users 125 megabytes of free e-mail storage on its My Way, Excite and iWon portals starting in September.
Most free Web-based e-mails had been limited to two to four megabytes, requiring users to delete old messages to stay within the limits. The newer capacities will mean most users will rarely, if ever, have to clean out their old e-mail messages.
The moves come as Google, which is in the process of offering stock to the public, prepares a free e-mail service with an unprecedented one gigabyte of storage. The Google plan has drawn criticism from privacy activists, however, because it will target advertising to users based on the content of e-mails.
The battle for free e-mail highlights the falling cost of storage capacity but also a rush to direct customers to portals and search services, which can generate revenue.
David Hallerman of the research firm eMarketer said Microsoft, Yahoo and others are trying to keep their users from defecting to Google to be able to pitch advertising and other services.
"With the cost of memory being what it is, (the expansion) is not that high a cost," Hallerman said.
"They were pushed into this move by Google. This is a way to keep people on their site. This is the razor to sell the razor blades."
"This move was not unexpected -- e-mail is the hook for an overall relationship with consumers, which leads to the creation of an audience for advertising," added Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li.
"If Google, Yahoo, and MSN can hold on their e-mail users, they stand a much better chance of ensuring that they use other services such as search."
Danny Sullivan at Searchenginewatch.com said Google's planned Gmail service offers an advantage in that it allows users to search quickly through their e-mail messages.
"That's what a lot of people have missed in the talk about a gigabyte of storage," Sullivan said.
Sullivan noted that Yahoo also allows users to search their e-mails, but Google is much faster.
As for Hotmail's expanded capacity, Sullivan said, "it's great but it doesn't mean anything for Microsoft unless they give you the ability to search through the material quickly."
At this point, Sullivan said, "Yahoo is in some ways ahead, because they are already providing all kinds of storage and they're doing it right now."
But he predicted Google may still catch up and grab many users because of its features and its "cachet."
作者：安普若 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
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 行业动态：Gmail挑起电子邮件大战微软MSN Hotmail 免费用户将扩容至２５０Ｍ （转贴） -- 安普若 - (3573 Byte) 2004-6-26 周六, 10:22 (1178 reads)
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